Ice Hockey: Kauhanen injury setback for Storm

A SERIOUS INJURY to their netminder, Timo Kauhanen, overshadowed Manchester Storm's 2-1 Superleague win against Newcastle Riverkings on Sunday.

The Finnish stopper, in his first game for Storm, was taken off after four minutes when he collided with Riverkings' Rob Trumbley and was taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs.

His replacement, Frank Piet-rangelo, foiled the Riverkings with a string of fine saves after Darren McAusland had cut their advantage to one goal with 15 minutes remaining. Manchester overcame the loss of Kauhanen and took the lead through Jeff Jablonski four minutes later. Blair Scott doubled the lead in the second period before Pietrangelo's heroics maintained their three-point lead at the top.

Cardiff Devils made it six wins in a row with a 4-0 success over the struggling London Knights. Goals came from from Mario Simioni, with two, Steve Thornton and Merv Priest.

The surprise result of the night came in Scotland, where Ayr Scottish Eagles thrashed Nottingham Panthers 6-3. Second-period goals from Mark Montanari, Dennis Purdie, Jeff Hoad and Dino Bauba took Mike Blaisdell's under-strength side by surprise, following Mark Woolf's opening goal after four minutes.

Sheffield Steelers overcame Bracknell Bees by recorded a 4-2 success at the Arena. Goals from Ed Courtenay, Teeder Wynne and Jason Heywood within seven second-period minutes put Steelers on course.