Paisley Pirates coach Ian Turley hailed his team’s spirit as they moved into the top three of the SNL table on Sunday.

Their 6-3 home win over league leaders Dundee Tigers puts them three points behind Aberdeen Lynx in second, who have played a game more.

But Turley praised his team’s efforts, as they picked up their eighth win from their last nine games in the league.

“It was a great performance from the guys,” he said. “We had a bit of a lull there near the end, but overall, it was a fantastic display.

“We know when the puck drops, it’s game time and we have to be engaged from the off and we showed that again, like we did last week.

“The guys knows what’s expected in there and while we could have been more clinical in the O zone, but it’s the results that matter.

“We had our captain blocking shots and that’s what it takes.  He knows what it takes to win and that was there for all to see.”

The spirit throughout the Pirates team is perhaps typified by the fact that all the goals in this latest win were all from different scorers as the Tigers again were left wanting.

With four losses in their last five, their title surge has stuttered somewhat, although they do remain in top spot.  However their next outing is a derby clash with Dundee Comets.

At Braehead Arena on Sunday, they were left with that losing feeling again and Pirates set the tone as Kris Phillips and Callum Henderson put the home side in front.

Jack Henderson pulled one back for the Tigers, but Paisley pulled further ahead in the second period as Garry Simpson and Mikey Dobson scored to make it 4-1 after two.

Calum Blair’s shorthanded finish added a fifth, but Andrew Henderson on the powerplay pulled one back with eight minutes to go.

Gary Parker finished things off for Pirates and while Rio Page got on the scoresheet not long for the visitors, it was as much as they could muster on a disappointing night.

While Pirates moved into the top three, they pushed Dundee Comets out, who suffered a shock 6-3 home loss to Kilmarnock Thunder.

It was a great night for the Ayrshire team, who picked up their first win since mid October and moved into double figures in terms of points as a result of this victory.

Darren Donaldson’s opener for Comets was cancelled out by Innes Gallacher before Ross Chalmers edged the visitors in front.

Drew Rumgay levelled up for Dundee around the half hour mark, but three goals in just over two and a half minutes veered the game towards Thunder, who rumbled towards victory.

Marc Fowley, Finlay Anderson and Ross Andreucci were all on target and despite John Dolan getting a third for the home side, Gallahcer’s second bookended Kilmarnock’s massive win on the road.

The other two SNL fixtures to take place saw a double header as Edinburgh Capitals and Kirkcaldy Kestrels went head-to-head with mixed results.

While it was a victory each across the two games, Edinburgh can claim they were the ‘winners’, picking up three points from the four available.

At Murrayfield on Saturday, the game went all the way to overtime, where the Kestrels edged a fascinating contest 3-2 to claim the first of the points from the weekend.

Andy Finlay’s opening goal for the Fife men was cancelled out by Kyle Carruth before Sean Cochrane put the Caps in front with nine minutes to go.

Graeme Allan levelled later on, taking the game to the extra period where Steven Lynch’s side got the extra point through Brodie Kay.

When the teams met in Kirkcaldy 24 hours later, it was much the same as Archie Holmes put Edinburgh in front, with Kay equalising.

They cancelled each other out again as Conor Duncan fired Kestrels 2-1 ahead on the powerplay before Cochrane equalised.  Joel Gautschi’s goal early in the third settled the game as Caps took the points back across the Forth.

WEEKEND RESULTS

Saturday

Edinburgh Capitals 2 Kirkcaldy Kestrels 3 (After Overtime)

Sunday

Paisley Pirates 6 Dundee Tigers 3

Dundee Comets 3 Kilmarnock Thunder 6

Kirkcaldy Kestrels 2 Edinburgh Capitals 3