Former Black Stick Kyle Pontifex was the hero for Capital in the National Hockey League final.

The oldest man on the turf proved the hero as Capital won the National Hockey League title.

Capital's 35-year-old former Black Sticks goalkeeper, Kyle Pontifex, saved the final shot of a shootout after the final against Southern had ended scoreless at fulltime.

Pontifex dove down to his right to deny Kirk Shimmins, before throwing down his pads and helmet to celebrate with his team.

It was the most dramatic event in an otherwise tense final.

A cagey opening quarter set the tone for the match, as both teams appeared more focused on not conceding rather than breaking the deadlock in the driving rain.

Capital won the first penalty corner of the match after 13 minutes, with Ollie Logan forcing a brilliant stick save from Tom Lysaght low to his right.

Capital dominated possession in the second quarter without really threatening, while Southern were happy to sit back and wait for a Capital mistake.

The halftime team talks did not see a change in approach from either side and Capital were quick to take control again when the teams emerged for the second half.

Black Stick Blair Hilton won a penalty corner after just 90 seconds of the half, but Lysaght was able to make a comfortable save from the ensuing shot.

Southern wrestled back some control late in the quarter but the stalemate continued.

A tense final quarter never looked like producing a goal, with the real action starting after the final whistle in the shootout.

Brad Read had Capital's first penalty saved by Lysaght, before Hugo Inglis put a penalty stroke past Pontifex after the Capital keeper tripped him on his penalty attempt.

Capital's Steven Ebbers and Harry Miskimmin made no mistake with their penalties, while Southern's Nick Ross and Blair Tarrant - who was awarded tournament MVP after the game - kept their side's perfect record intact.

Benedict van Woerkman scored his penalty for Capital, before Callum Bailey had his shot saved by Pontifex as Southern started to unravel.

Hilton scored what would be a crucial penalty with a superb reverse shot, as Pontifex stepped up on Southern's last attempt, saving Irishman Shimmins' penalty to win the shootout 4-3 and secure the Challenge Shield - their first title since 2010.

Hilton admitted to a few nerves before stepping up to take his shot.

"I've had a couple of nerve-racking ones recently so I was just happy to see it go into the back of the net.

"It's been a tough tournament but it was great to get through in the end."

Earlier in the men's bronze medal match, Auckland beat Midlands 3-2 thanks to a brace from Black Sticks skipper Simon Child, including a sublime reverse stick finish to win the game early in the final quarter.