EDINBURGH Capitals must keep their cool if they are going to slay Belfast Giants at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That's the view of Doug Christiansen, the ice hockey club's director of hockey, following back-to-back defeats by second-placed Coventry Blaze last weekend.
He added: "We lost our emotions on Sunday in Coventry. They did what good teams do and sei
zed that opportunity.
"We've talked about that in training this week. If we can avoid that mental mistake as a team then we can be neck-and-neck with the best in this league.
"The gap between us and teams up at the top is the mental aspect and that's not as individual players but as a team.
"When they have a chance, the better teams put us away. They (Coventry] did.
"That's the difference between a second-place team and an eighth-place team."
Capitals have an advantage over Belfast in that it's their only game of the weekend while Giants have a game tonight, at home to Basingstoke Bison, and tomorrow, at home to Capitals' basement rivals Hull Stingrays, before crossing the Irish sea for Sunday's clash.
Belfast also had a match at Basingstoke on Wednesday, which they won. That result was good for Capitals because it keeps Bison 11 points beneath them in the table.
Belfast can do the Murrayfield men another couple of turns by inflicting defeats on their play-off rivals before arriving in Edinburgh. If Bison, who have ten games remaining, are beaten in the Northern Irish capital tonight, they would surely be eliminated from the play-off race. Hull are only a point behind the Caps, so defeat for Rick Strachan's men in Belfast would come as another welcome bonus for the Capitals. However, Hull have shown improved form of late and only lost 4-2 at league pace-setters Sheffield Steelers on Sunday.
Giants look to have their shooting boots on, having run riot in their 8-5 win at Bison on Wednesday. The defeat extended Bison's losing run to 18 games, with Giants' Andrew Martin claiming the best individual game points tally in the league this season with two goals and five assists. He is a man to watch.
Surprisingly, with Giants outshooting Bison by 14 to 2 in the opening period, the visitors only had a short-handed goal by Shane Johnson to show for their efforts. But Giants kept up their assault in the second with 26 shots fired on Bison netminder Kevin Reiter.
And Giants continued in the third so Capitals netminder Pasi Raitainen can expect a busy night.
The plus point from the Scots' point of view is that Bison pierced Giants' defence five times.
So far, play-off bound Giants have lost 134 goals in collecting 68 points and they have scored 184. Capitals have shipped 217 – the worst record in the ten-strong league – and scored 136.
If Giants can stick to the form book, then Bison will remain bottom and Hull in ninth place before Belfast come to Murrayfield (face-off 6.00pm).
The pair have clashed six times so far this term with the Irish outfit holding the upper hand having won five of the games.
Their only defeat came in a penalty shot league thriller on December 22, when Edinburgh edged proceedings 5-4.
The series started in Scotland on September 7 with a 4-1 victory by Giants in the Challenge Cup and it was followed by a 4-3 victory for Giants in Belfast on September 27.
Belfast won again in the league on November 22, this time by 5-2, and the next instalment came at Murrayfield.
Giants won the first game of a weekend double-header just before Christmas 4-1 but Capitals turned the tables 24 hours later by taking two points.
Belfast then won the Festive league period return in Northern Ireland 5-3.
Christiansen's men go into the game on a downer having lost their double-header against Coventry Blaze, the reigning league champions, last weekend with disappointed fans leaving the Riversdale rink following a 5-2 defeat last Saturday.
The American playcaller admitted: "Obviously it is tough anytime you lose at home. Coventry are where they are in this league for a reason and I really thought that we didn't react to the adversity as well as we could have done.
"We got it to 2-2 and the referee then made the wrong call. They are human and they make mistakes but it was clearly an icing and our guys stopped playing thinking that it was going to be a dead play and they scored.
"Obviously, our guys' emotion was too much and they wound up capitalising on our negativity and went up 5-2 and, from there, we didn't have a way back.
"The reaction to that goal didn't cost us the game. Refs don't cost you the game but it was the wrong call and it was a huge turning point in the game."
There are plus points as Christiansen continues to be pleased with the performances of defenceman Sean Perkins.
And Jason Cassells stepped up during the later part of Saturday's game. Mark Hurtubise continues to be the main man but they will all be crucial on Sunday.
The full article contains 890 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
