MARTIN CINGEL once again produced a crucial goal as Edinburgh Capitals clung onto the eighth and final play-off place with a narrow league victory over high-flying Belfast Giants.
The 4-2 victory at Murrayfield was only achieved with two goals in the final six minutes, Cingel making the breakthrough for a 3-2 lead and the final strike coming from an empty-net goal with four seconds remaining.
Capitals move on to 32 points
from 46 Elite League games, one point ahead of ninth-placed Hull Stingrays, who beat fourth-placed Nottingham Panthers 6-4 on Humberside last night. They have played 47 games.
Basingstoke Bison are now cast adrift at the bottom of the table with 19 points from 47 games and Capitals' game in hand comes into play this Thursday when they travel to face sixth-placed outfit Manchester Phoenix.
There was no doubting the relief in Capitals' dressing-room after last night's game in which Edinburgh were outshot 34-26 by the well-organised Belfast side, who were entitled to be tired after playing four games in five nights.
But the celebration was tempered with realism after hearing the Hull result which makes Thursday's trip to England's north west even more important.
Hull entertain Manchester on Saturday when Capitals face Newcastle Vipers at the Riversdale rink (6.00pm) before making the long trip to Cardiff Devils on Sunday.
It's crunch time and skipper Cingel, who continues to lead by example, praised netminder Pasi Raitanen for his performance last night. The experienced Finnish stopper made several breathtaking saves which kept Capitals in the game after being pegged back from a 2-0 lead.
Cingel said: "It was great to see the puck hit the back of the net and to get the two points was huge for us. It was a really close game and Pasi made some big saves for us.
"If they (Belfast) had scored at 2-2, with time running out, it would have been difficult for us, but the result keeps us in the hunt for a play-off place which is what we all want."
Play in the high-tempo clash swung from end to end and razor-sharp Mark Hurtubise broke the deadlock with a slick strike after 24 minutes, hard-working Sean Perkins and Brad Bonello providing the ammunition.
Only 23 seconds later, Bonello turned from provider to scorer with Doug Christiansen, the club's director of coaching, claiming the assist.
Belfast, who outshot Capitals 14-8 in the opening stanza, hit back and skipper George Awada opened their account by deflecting in a shot from Mike Burgoyne on the power play four minutes later.
And busy Tyler Howells levelled 54 seconds later to put the issue right back into the melting pot. Both sides fired ten shots at their opposing goaltender in the middle session and Belfast outshot Capitals 10-8 in the final period, but crucially Edinburgh made two count.
The move which resulted in Cingel's glory strike was started by newcomer Jason Cassells, who fed Hurtubise. He then squared to Cingel, who finished clinically in 54 minutes 23 seconds.
Giants were desperate to withdraw their Great Britain international netminder Stevie Lyle and they paid the price.
Cingel picked up a loose puck, pushed it to Hurtubise, who skated in to slide the puck home.
The fans in the reported crowd of 720 went wild as the puck hit the rigging with four seconds remaining and Cingel added: "Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going into Thursday at Manchester, but they are a very good side and have some really skilled guys.
"We scored two really good goals to go 2-0 up but Belfast hit back quickly. However, we focused on the game and kept our cool. Our objective was to win the game. We stayed out of the penalty box and, if we stay out of the box, then we have shown we can compete with the best teams in this league."
It looks as if Capitals will have a full squad for the midweek trip and Cingel said: "Manchester have David Beauregard, who is one of the best scorers in the league. They also have Tony Hand who makes so many good decisions on the ice. However, a win is achievable at Manchester and we can take points down there.
"If we can beat Belfast Giants, who are third in the league with 72 points from 49 games, then we can take something from Manchester, who have 47 points from 44 games."
Manchester have already qualified for the play-offs along with leaders Sheffield Steelers, Coventry Blaze, Giants, Panthers and Cardiff Devils.
But Cingel is not ready to believe that any of the above will not be hungry for more points, particularly in front of their home crowd. "We'll have our work cut out," he added.
The full article contains 822 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
