The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms secured a four point weekend with a Sunday night win over the Telford Tigers.
They found themselves on the back foot in the opening minute when Jarvis Hunt was called for an early penalty, but a strong Shred Station Penalty Kill stood the Phantoms in good stead for the rest of the game.
They took the lead on 9:06 when good work from Louie Kynaston, Barni Sari and Richard Hartmann in the offensive zone eventually saw Kynaston rip an effort past Brad Day in the Tigers’ net.
Telford were determined to make a game of it, though, and their import duo of Eric Henderson and David Thomson looked dangerous when they got into the offensive zone. Thomson went close with an effort shortly after Phantoms’ opener, but was denied by a big save from Hayden Lavigne.
Phantoms had a couple of further efforts towards the end of the first frame as Austin Mitchell-King and Cam Hough went close, but they took a one goal lead into the first intermission.
They doubled their lead in the opening minute of the second period when good work from Luke Ferrara in the neutral zone allowed Janne Laakkonen to gain the blue line and drop a pass off for Hough, who ripped his shot into the far corner.
The Tigers hit back on 27:37 when Eric Henderson squeezed the puck home before Lavigne could get across to his far post.
Phantoms then had a goal ruled out when Joe Gretton lifted a lovely finish in off the bar, but the referee instead called a tripping penalty on Hunt.
And the Tigers levelled the scores on the resulting powerplay as Thomas Byrne tapped home from close range after Harry Ferguson’s effort was saved.
It was all to play for in the third and the opening ten minutes of the period showed that. Neither side wanted to give up any big scoring chances in a crucial game for both sides.
But when Byrne was called for delay of game, Hough notched his second of the night, tipping home a cross crease pass from Ferrara to put Phantoms in the driving seat.
And he completed his hat-trick a minute and a half later when he squeezed the puck between the post and Day’s skate from behind the goal, to install a two goal advantage for the Phantoms.
Phantoms defended the house well, typified by Gretton’s brilliant diving block on a Tigers’ slap shot to clear the zone and were backed up by an exceptional performance by Lavigne between the pipes.
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 4-2 Telford Tigers
Phantoms goals:
9:06 (PP 1-0 TT): #8 Louie Kynaston / #92 Barni Sari / #27 Richard Hartmann (EHG)
20:54 (PP 2-0 TT): #29 Cam Hough / #62 Janne Laakkonen / #19 Luke Ferrara (EHG)
50:13 (PP 3-2 TT): #29 Cam Hough / #19 Luke Ferrara / #62 Janne Laakkonen (PPG)
51:42 (PP 4-2 TT): #29 Cam Hough (Hat-Trick) / #62 Janne Laakkonen / #19 Luke Ferrara (EHG)
Tigers goals:
27:37 (PP 2-1 TT): #11 Eric Henderson / #49 James Smith / #91 Rhodes Mitchell-King (EHG)
30:20 (PP 2-2 TT): #38 Thomas Byrne / #13 Harry Ferguson / #39 Louie Newell (PPG)
Phantoms man of the match: #29 Cam Hough
Tigers man of the match: #30 Brad Day