Stingrays bounce back from defeat

Konstantin Kalmikov scored a short-handed goal at Nottingham

Hull Stingrays coach Rick Strachan hopes the point they picked up in losing 5-4 after a penalty shoot-out at Nottingham will be a boost to his side.

Sunday's morale-boosting performance came after the Rays lost 5-0 against Manchester on Saturday.

Strachan told BBC Radio Humberside: "The guys were pretty down, especially after the result in Manchester.

"It was a big effort from everyone and they had a smile on their faces again and now we need to build on that."

The result against Nottingham still leaves the Rays propping up the rest at the bottom of the Elite League table but they have narrowed the gap to just two points with games in hand over the sides immediately above them.

Goals from Jeff Glowa, Konstantin Kalmikov, Jason Kostadine and a first goal for the club from Jamie Thompson were enough to send the game into overtime, but the Panthers took the extra point winning the penalty shoot-out.

Sunday's performance was a far cry from the one against Manchester, just 24 hours earlier, when the home side fired in 48 shots on Hull netminder Curtis Cruickshank as Hull were put to the sword in the Altrincham Ice Arena.

The Rays were not helped when they lost defenceman Stuart Kerr after 10 minutes when he limped out of the game with a knee injury.

Strachan remained philosophical about his players' Jekyll and Hyde performances.

He said: "Only time will tell if the result in Nottingham is a turning point but we need the same sort of effort."