MARK HURTUBISE was once again Edinburgh Capitals' top points scorer in the welcome win over Belfast Giants on Sunday, and the razor-sharp hitman will be a key man as the Scots travel to Manchester Phoenix tonight for a crucial Elite League clash.
It's a huge game for the Murrayfield men, who only have eight matches remaining in which to hold on to the eighth and final play-off place. Hull Stingrays are breathing down their necks.
Tonight's showdown marks the start of a tough four days wit
h Capitals due to entertain Newcastle Vipers, who are also seeking a play-off spot, on Saturday, before travelling to play-off qualifiers Cardiff Devils on Sunday.
Last Sunday's 4-2 victory over Belfast was the first time Capitals have recorded a win in regulation time over the Irish side since the arrival of American playcaller Doug Christiansen. And it provided a massive boost for the club who have 32 points, one more than ninth-placed Hull Stingrays, who have played a game more.
The slender gap between the two sides is not lost on Hurtubise, who claimed two goals and an assist on Sunday to add to his already impressive total for his first season in British ice hockey.
The 24-year-old, who capped a heady night with an empty-net strike with four seconds remaining, set up skipper Martin Cingel for the game-winning third, and the combination proved lethal on the night. Modest Hurtubise, from Montreal, said: "It was a matter of putting the puck in the net (for the fourth goal) but Martin Cingel made a good play on the blue line.
"At the third goal, the puck was turned over and it was just a matter of getting the puck to Martin (Cingel), who has a good shot and has scored some big goals for us this year."
Capitals were 2-0 ahead earlier in the game before Giants pegged them back. The 6ft 2in forward said: "That's hockey. We took a penalty and they scored. Then they scored again quickly and we stopped playing for two minutes and they scored two goals. We wanted to win on Sunday and we knew it would be close if we managed to keep their star players off the scoresheet and I think we did a pretty good job of that. That was a big win at this point of the season when every point is so vital. Belfast are third in the league and we proved again that, if we play the way we can, then we can be a match for anybody in this league."
Capitals only recorded six penalty minutes against Belfast, in contrast to the 43 sin-bin minutes in their 6-3 home defeat to defending league champions Coventry Blaze in their last home game.
Hurtubise said: "One thing we said before the game was to stay out of the penalty box and we did that. If we take penalties then that takes the momentum away from us. We only had one game last weekend, which was a big help. We were fresh to go against Belfast and we know they had a heavy schedule last week but, over the season, everybody has times like that.
"This week we've got a tough schedule and it is up to us to claim as many points as we can to keep up our challenge for a play-off place.
"Our job is to try and put together the same effort we did against Belfast and we'll see how things go. If we do, then we should be able to compete with Manchester.
"We've competed with them okay all year and earlier in the year one of our main problems has been edging teams in close games and Sunday showed that we can bear down and nick a result. Earlier in the season we might have lost it."
