Edinburgh Capitals coach Steven Lynch said there may have been a hangover from their Northern Challenge Cup success but remains happy with the points.

The Caps returned to SNL action on Sunday and made it a winning one, seeing off North Ayrshire Wild in a 5-3 victory.

But Lynch revealed the two-legged win over Whitley Warriors the week before gave the team a lift going into the week last week.

“I’ll admit, Sunday’s game was scrappy and we weren’t at our best,” he said. “I can put that down to perhaps a hangover from the previous weekend, but it’s two points at the end of the day.

“What happened (last week) gave us a huge lift and we needed that weekend to kick start our season, what with the difficult start we faced until Murrayfield opened.

“The players set the standard against Whitley Bay and we now know what we are capable of.  We set the bar with those games.

“Our young players have stepped up and both Kyle Carruth and Kian Shevlin have settled in really well.

“In fact, all our young guys, including Joe Lynch and Aiden Paterson as well, have huge potential, play regular minutes and will have a big part to play for us this year.”

Carruth shone this weekend with two goals, adding to the two assists he picked up over the two legs against Whitley to get his SNL account up and running after joining on a two-way deal with Solway Sharks last week.

It was a victory that was hard-earned, but rewarding against Wild, who continue to be rooted to the bottom of the table.

Ian Blake’s goal in the first minute got Edinburgh going, but Kyle Forsyth had North Ayrshire level before Carruth’s first restored the home side’s lead.

Joel Gautschi and Chad Smith made it 4-1 to open a relatively comfortable lead, but Wild showed they weren’t out of it as Dylan Murray pulled one back.

Carruth’s second secured the points in the end despite Jordan McGonagle added a third for Domenico De Simone’s men in the latter stages.

The result didn’t really do much in terms of pulling Edinburgh further up the table, but they remained three points behind Kirkcaldy Kestrels, who took down 4-3 Dundee Tigers after penalty shots on Saturday.

It was a much-needed win for the current champions and taking the result against the league leaders going into the game was one that would have pleased their coach Steven King.

Rolands Dietlavs was first on the board for Kestrels before Jack Henderson picked up a leveller on the stroke of the first period break.

Dietlavs’ second restored the lead in third, with Calum Hill’s powerplay goal with ten minutes to go setting up a nervy finale, where Scott Jamieson for Kirkcaldy and Tigers’ Andrew Henderson traded goals.

It went all the way to penalty shots where Grant Jamieson, Conor Duncan and Cameron Wilkie all netted to secure the points.

Tigers’ defeat, while picking up a point, meant Aberdeen Lynx returned to the top of the SNL table on head-to-head record after they sunk Kilmarnock Thunder 11-2 at a sold out Linx Ice Arena.

Hat-tricks from James DeMeo and Gary Kelly, doubles from Kyle MacPhail and Jordan Leyden and one from Nils Tanner made it a good night for the Lynx.  Innes Gallacher and Ross Chalmers were on target for Kilmarnock.

Sunday night saw Paisley Pirates entertain Dundee Comets and a seven-goal thriller was served up as Ian Turley’s side edged a 4-3 affair.

Comets had Sam McCluskey in their line-up for the first time since 2019 to add to their defensive options, but it was the home side who went two up courtesy of Marty Simpson and Fraser Kerr.

Comets’s Ian Bowie pulled one back, but Paisley restored the three goal lead through Gary Parker, before Adam Robinson was on target for the visitors.

John Dolan’s powerplay equaliser early in the third made it more interesting, at least until Simpson picked up his second and Pirates’ fourth, a goal which proved to be the winner in the end.

WEEKEND RESULTS

Saturday

Aberdeen Lynx 11 Kilmarnock Thunder 2

Kirkcaldy Kestrels 4 Dundee Tigers 3 (PS)

Sunday

Paisley Pirates 4 Dundee Comets 3

Edinburgh Capitals 5 North Ayrshire Wild 3