Stingrays topple Giants but Steelers sink in Nottingham

Latvian international Raitums - who replaced the axed Tommy Sandahl in midweek - kept his side in the match with 37 saves while Konstantin Kalmikov, Jeff Glowa and Pavel Gomenyuk too the goalscoring honours at the other end of the ice.

It was a repeat of the scoreline which saw Hull defeat Belfast after a shootout, also at Hull Arena, back in November.

Kalmikov's 23rd goal of the season at 11.49 broke the deadlock and it wasn't until the 24th minute that the Elite League's top scorer, Colin Shields, drew the visitors level.

A shorthanded goal by Jeff Glowa restored Stingrays' lead at 27.11 before defenceman Pavel Gomenyuk extended his side's advantage with his third goal of the season at 34.32.

Despite Belfast pressing forward relentlessly in the third, they only had Pierre Luc-Faubert's 54th-minute goal to show for their efforts, enabling Sylvain Cloutier's side to snap a four-game losing streak ahead of Sunday night's trip to Sheffield Steelers, much to the delight of their player-coach, who felt the two points were just reward for his players' recent efforts.

"It was a big win for us," said Cloutier. "We have been playing good hockey for a month-and-a-half and have been outplaying some of the top sides, but have had nothing to show for it.

"But we told the guys to stay positive and keep believing and we produced a great team performance.

"Marty (Raitums] played well and made some big saves. He was nervous before the game, but made a couple of saves and settled down.

"He was composed and nothing rattled him."

Debutant defenceman Jonathan Zion got on the scoresheet but still made a losing start to his Steelers career in a 5-2 defeat at Nottingham Panthers.

Kevin Bergin's 10th-minute strike gave the home side a 1-0 lead they held until two minutes before the end of the second period when Steelers' defenceman Randy Dagenais hit the back of the net.

But a similar defensive collapse to the one which enabled Panthers to clinch a 6-3 win at the National Ice Centre back in November, did for Steelers again this time when they conceded three goals in six forgettable third period minutes.

Cameron Mann shot the home side ahead at 43.56 before player-coach Corey Neilson added a third at 46.29. David Clarke heaped further misery on Dave Matsos's side at 49.22 on a 5-on-3 powerplay.

Zion pulled one back for Steelers at 57.12 on the powerplay but Marc Levers found the empty net with 26 seconds remaining to make it 5-2.