Kalimikov double seals Rays win

Kalmikov returned to his old club Nottingham to plot their downfall

A Konstantin Kalmikov brace saw the Hull Stingrays come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Nottingham Panthers in the Elite League on Sunday.

The Ukrainian converted a penalty shot two minutes from time to seal the points in a game that saw James Cooke score his first goal of the season.

Coach Rick Strachan told BBC Radio Humberside: "It was a huge win.

"We played really well and we stuck to the system. At 2-0 down we didn't panic, we kept chipping away."

The Stingrays went into the game without forward Matt Reynolds, who will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a broken hand, while defenceman Stuart Kerr was unable to return after missing the last two months with a knee injury despite taking part in the warm-up.

The Panthers cruised into a two goal lead in the first period at the National Ice Centre when Matt Myers and Juri Golicic scored.

But the Rays hit back to level it up in the second period through Kalmikov and Cooke's efforts and as the clock ticked down in the third period overtime beckoned.

However, when home netminder Mike Robinson threw his stick at the puck in the 58th minute, Kalmikov converted the resultant penalty shot to leave the Stingrays just two points outside the play-off places.

The result came off the back of a 4-0 home defeat on Saturday against Sheffield Steelers.

The league leaders scored twice in the first period and were never seriously threatened by the Rays, but the two point haul from the weekend left Strachan satisfied.

He said: "We are going to enjoy this win but we have not won the Stanley Cup. We will move on and prepare for next weekend.

"If we want to make the play-offs we are going to have to beat the big teams at the top. We have picked up points over the last three weekends and we have to keep doing that if we are to move up the standings."