Owen hat-trick keeps Blaze on track

 GREG Owen's second hat-trick of the season secured league-leaders Coventry Blaze a dramatic overtime victory over Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday.

With the scores tied at 3-3, Owen smashed home the winner on the 62 minutes to ensure the Blaze returned south with the points in a hard-fought clash in the Scottish capital.

It was Edinburgh who flew out of the blocks and Mark Garside netted his 11th goal of the season on six minutes.

And things got better for the Scots just nine minutes later when a shorthanded strike Jeff Hutchins found the net.

That only served to shake the Midlands outfit into life and Owen grabbed his first of the game and his 15th of the season to reduce the arrears.

Just before the half-hour mark the table-toppers were level when Owen again got his name on the scoresheet.

Coventry then sustained a period of intense Edinburgh pressure in a five against three powerplay before Luke Fulgham scored his 40th goal of the season to complete the Blaze turnaround.

That appeared to end the Capitals' resistance but Simon Lambert sent the match to overtime in the final minute, only for Owen to settle matters with his hat-trick strike.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Panthers tore Hull Stingrays to pieces with a 9-1 victory, courtesy of hat-tricks from David Clarke and Cameron Mann.

Also on target for the Panthers was Sean McAslan, who netted two, and Marty Gascon, while Lee Mitchell finally opened the Stingrays' account in the closing stages.

Elsewhere, second-placed Belfast Giants kept up the pressure on the Blaze with a dogged 3-1 victory over Sheffield Steelers, coming from behind to secure the points in Yorkshire.

Joey Talbot had fired the Steelers ahead and while Colin Shields levelled for the Giants, they had to wait until the 51st minute until Pat Bateman gave them the lead, before Pierre-Luc Faubert wrapped up a 3-1 win at the death.

And a Matic Kralj double, as well as goals from Mike Berry and Jason Tejchma helped Newcastle Vipers to a 4-1 win over Cardiff Devils after Jay Latulippe had given the Welsh outfit the lead.