Stingrays defy the odds to reach Cup last eight

Combined with the point earned in a 6-5 defeat after a shoot-out to Cardiff Devils, Hull progressed to the last eight for the second season running, despite being favourites to finish bottom in a group also consisting of two other ‘top five’ sides in Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers.

Last night saw a repeat of the scoreline between the two sides when they met in Coventry in the league on Sunday, with Blaze coming out on top that time.

And they looked likely to repeat that success in Hull when they went ahead through Ryan Ginand on the powerplay at 11.14.

Matty Davies levelled five minutes later before Jereme Tender edged the home side in front at 29.07. Ginand then pounced for his second of the night at 31.44.

But the third period belonged to Hull, Kyle Mariani putting them ahead on the powerplay at 44.27, before Carl Lauzon doubled the advantage at 51.25.

As Coventry pushed for a goal, they allowed Tendler to seal the win with an empty-net strike in the closing seconds, condemning the visitors to finishing bottom of the group.

A delighted Cloutier said afterwards: “It is a massive accomplishment.

“No-one gave us a chance in this group. The big teams were in there with us and they are built to win the league title.

“But we found a way to sneak through and you have to give all the guys credit, it was a big result for us. We all pulled together to get the win.”

But while Cloutier celebrated, his opposite number Matt Soderstrom was left angry at his team’s performance.

“I am disappointed and angry,” said Soderstrom. “We have a good team, but we need to work hard. We are not willing to work hard and it’s unacceptable. We are really Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

“We beat Hull on Sunday and all of a sudden we think it is going to be easy. It doesn’t work that way, you have to work for it for 60 minutes.

“Our goal was to get through to the quarter-final and by us not doing that is a failure. That should not happen, we have to be better than that.”