Play-off spot now almost within reach as Stingrays see off Fife

With the top eight going through to the post-season, the entertaining 7-5 victory leaves Sylvain Cloutier’s side in seventh spot, eight points ahead of ninth-placed Dundee Stars, who have two games in hand.

The two sides meet in Hull on the final day of the season, although Cloutier will be hoping his side have their play-off spot secured before that encounter.

Last night saw his side sprint into a 4-0 lead after just 13 minutes through goals from Dominic Osman (2), Derek Campbell, and Jason Silverthorn.

Former Hull forward Frantisek Bakrlik marked his return with a reply at 19.56, although Campbell restored the four-goal advantage three minutes after the restart.

Then came the Fife comeback, with Bakrlik firing two more goals around the halfway point with Matt Cohen’s powerplay strike at 33.35 making it 5-4. But Dmitry Rodin made it a two-goal game again at 38.11.

Osman completed his hat-trick in the 41st minute and although Danny Stewart made it 7-5 on the powerplay 10 minutes later, Hull held on for two vital points.

The result makes play-off qualification increasingly unlikely for Fife, who had endured a difficult week off the ice when coming to terms with the sudden death of Kelly Dutiaume, the wife of head coach Todd.

Stingrays’ victory came on the back of a promising performance the night before at Sheffield Steelers, where they went down 2-1 to the defending champions.

The visitors were more than a match for Ryan Finnerty’s team, who were looking to bounce back from the previous night’s 3-2 defeat to leaders Belfast Giants.

The Steelers took the lead on the powerplay at 22.23 when Mike Ramsay converted at close range. That lead was doubled when defenceman Nick Duff put home a rebound at 25.59.

Hull took control in the third but, despite firing 22 shots on Geoff Woolhouse’s net, could only find a way past him once, Osman scoring on the powerplay at 49.29.

With Belfast winning 6-1 at home to Braehead, it leaves Steelers eight points adrift of the leaders with three games in hand ahead of a double-header weekend in Northern Ireland on march 16-17.

n In the English Premier League, the race for second place remains very much on for Sheffield Steeldogs.

Andre Payette’s team recovered from a 3-1 defeat at Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday to win by the same scoreline against the same opponents at Ice Sheffield last night.

With eight games remaining, the result leaves them two points behind second-placed Manchester Phoenix.