Picture by Derek Young

The second weekend of the SNL season brought the final two teams into league action, with Edinburgh Capitals and Kirkcaldy Kestrels both getting their campaigns underway.

That means all nine teams have now taken to the ice, and while it is still far too early to read much into the standings, the opening two weekends have already offered a mix of tight contests, strong starts and some early tests.

Pirates Edge Kestrels

The closest game of the weekend came in Kirkcaldy, where Paisley Pirates edged Kestrels 5-4 in a game that stayed alive right to the end.

Kestrels had come out on top in pre-season, but after a series of closely fought meetings last season, there was plenty of anticipation around their first league clash of the new campaign.

Paisley made the first move, with Canadian-born Cale Tanaka giving the visitors an early lead, and that remained the difference at the first break.

Kestrels wasted little time levelling after the restart, Cole Giannandrea scoring less than 20 seconds into the second. From there the game opened up, with both sides trading goals in a competitive, back-and-forth period. By the second break there was nothing between them, with the score level at 3-3.

Chris Wilson then struck twice for Paisley in the third to put the Pirates two goals ahead, but Kestrels stayed in the contest. With around a minute remaining, defenceman Kian Shevlin pulled one back to make it 5-4.

It made for a tense final minute, but Paisley held on to take the two points and make it two wins from two.

Warriors Win at Solway

Whitley Warriors also maintained their winning start on Sunday with a 6-1 victory away to Solway Sharks.

Whitley were on the offensive early and scored twice in the opening period, with summer signing Iain Brown among those on target.

The second period was more evenly matched in terms of chances created, but Whitley were the side making theirs count. They added three more goals, including a second of the night for 17-year-old Ollie Jardine, who is also on a two-way arrangement with Sheffield Steeldogs.

Solway eventually found a way through in the third when Ruairi Lockerbie got them on the board, but Brown added his second shortly before the final buzzer to complete the 6-1 win.

That result came less than 24 hours after a very different outcome for the Sharks, who had taken a 7-3 home win over North Ayrshire Wild on Saturday.

Sharks See Off Wild

Ross Murray made an immediate impact for Solway, drawing on his previous NIHL experience with the Sharks as he scored just seconds after puck drop and went on to complete a first-period hat-trick, including one on the power play.

Two more goals followed before the first break, giving Solway a 5-0 lead and leaving Wild with a mountain to climb if they were to find a way back into the game.

Solway stretched the lead to 7-0 in the second through Stephen Adams and Jude Beattie, with Oliver Calver also taking over in net for the Sharks.

Wild, despite travelling with a short bench, then found a response. Mitchell Riley, Lennon Deeney and Tom Morgenthaler scored in quick succession to give North Ayrshire their best spell of the game and cut the deficit to four.

That burst gave Wild some momentum, but the five-goal first-period deficit had left them too much ground to recover. Solway saw out the remainder of the game to secure the 7-3 win and two league points.

Capitals Open with Victory

Edinburgh Capitals made an emphatic start to their league campaign on Saturday, taking a 10-2 win over Aberdeen Lynx at a packed Linx Ice Arena.

Capitals were quick into their stride and had built a 3-0 lead by the first break, with Scott Jamieson, captain Joe Lynch and Joel Gautschi all finding the net.

Aberdeen answered in the second. Edinburgh ran into penalty trouble and Lynx made use of it, with captain Ben Edmonds and player-coach Jordan Leyden both scoring on the power play to bring the game back within reach.

Lynch, though, kept Edinburgh firmly in front. Two more goals completed his hat-trick and sent Capitals into the second break 5-2 ahead.

Any chance of Aberdeen closing that gap disappeared early in the third. Edinburgh struck three times while shorthanded in quick succession, turning a three-goal lead into an 8-2 advantage.

Ross Borwick and Scott McKay then added the final two goals as Capitals continued to press and completed a 10-2 win in their opening league game.

Early Standings

After two weekends, Whitley Warriors and Paisley Pirates sit at the top of the early table having both won their opening two games.

It is still far too early to draw conclusions, but with all nine teams now underway, the first picture of the new SNL season is beginning to emerge.