MATCH REPORT | Lightning find their fire power, as Phantoms lose

The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms went to finish the festive period with their rivals Milton Keynes Lightning at their home barn on Saturday. Tensions began to overflow early in the game with Joe Gretton being jointly boarded by Archie Salisbury and Rio Grinell-Parke both boarding him on either side making him fall to the ice. Further incidents occurred mid-ice as both teams battled end-to-end for the majority of the first period.

Former Phantom Martins Susters got the first puck past Phantom’s goalie Hayden Lavigne, the Phantoms wanted to respond so the top line (Captain Luke Ferrara, Cam Hough and Janne Laakkonen) teamed up to challenge Lightning’s goalie Jordan Hedley, unfortunately for the trio, this attempt was unsuccessful. Unwilling to give up, the trio reunited to secure the first goal for the Phantoms, with Hough thinking quickly on his skates and capitalising on a rebound shot.

Equally, Lightning wanted to increase their numbers, Carter Hamill and new signing Patrik Forsberg trying their luck against Lavigne, but he kept the score level 37 seconds into the second period Tim Wallace edged the scoreboard; Ben Solder felt cheeky when he tried to slapshot the puck from out of the Phantoms zone. Billy Thorpe was handed a two-minute penalty for hooking, regardless of the odds being against them Ferrara and Hough chanced their bets and broke away from the Lightning powerplay unit, racing down the ice with aims at Hedley, even though they were intercepted by the Lightning powerplay unit, Callum Buglass took his opportunity to do the same when the opportunity arose.

Tom Norton and Jasper Foster played their roles in defending their netminder against Lightning attacks - Norton cleverly cut off the Lightning’s plans to squeeze a puck in the far post, by intruding his stick between the puck and net. During a Lightning heavily offensive shift, Foster found his way to dispossess a Lightning player while they were in Lavigne’s crease, saving the Phantoms another defeat. However, on another powerplay, Hamill scored a third for the Lightning.

Entering the third period, the score stood at 3-1; Austin Mitchell-King still to have the drive to win the game; whilst battling Lightning invasion Mitchell-King intervened a shot on Lavigne, took the puck down the ice, passed to Duncan Speirs for him to finish the play but Hedley saw through their plans. Jordan Spadafore provided the Phantoms with a powerplay after he illegally boarded Gretton; with a limited amount of time remaining, the Phantoms knew they had to push hard - Norton rang Hedley’s iron when he swung his signature slapshot at Hedley; less than 30 seconds later Jarvis Hunt saw the ice open up and lit the lamp for the Phantoms.

Corey McEwen got the better of Lavigne as he increased the score for the Lightning. 1 minute and 34 seconds remained on the clock, Head Coach Slava Koulikov called a team time-out to strategise a way to win, this included pulling Lavigne, unfortunately, this choice backfired as Harry Gulliver scored an empty net goal to close the game.