The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms put Saturday night’s disappointment behind them and defeated the Bristol Pitbulls in overtime on Sunday night.
Phantoms came into the game once again heavily short benched, especially in defence, with Brad Bowering and Joe Gretton missing out through injury and Billy Thorpe away on Great Britain U20 duty. Young forward Nick Martin also didn’t ice.
But they had the game’s first good opportunity when Duncan Speirs found Austin Mitchell-King, who gained the zone well and fired on net, but his effort was kicked away by Pitbulls goalie, Tommy Nappier.
Luke Ferrara had the next best chance as time ticked on in the first period, but after being found with a good stretch pass, his shot flew wide.
And the away side capitalised on Phantoms’ missed chances to take the lead against the run of play, when Ewan Hill found space inside the zone to rip past Hayden Lavigne.
Phantoms didn’t let that get them down, though, and went straight to work in period two. Duncan Speirs saw an effort well saved in the opening minute of the period, but Callum Buglass did level the scores when he fired an effort through traffic and into the back of the net for a powerplay goal.
They almost made it two in as many minutes when Nathan Salem took a poor hit to make a play near the goal and the shot went agonisingly close, but referee Craig Williams said no goal.
Phantoms continued to have the better of the chances as the game continued into the third period and Louie Kynaston went close after a good piece of work by Tom Palmer, but the net was kicked off and the play blown dead.
The Phantoms defence were then set to be tested when Cam Hough was assessed a 5+game penalty for boarding, but the team stood firm, led by Duncan Speirs, who made several brave blocks to stop blue line shots getting through to the goal during the penalty kill.
And Speirs almost won it at the death with a blue line effort, but Nappier got a piece of it, before producing a fine stop to deny Tom Norton on the rebound.
Pitbulls’ import forward, Nick Pryce, took a high sticking penalty in the final minute of the third, giving Phantoms the man advantage at the start of overtime.
And Phantoms made their man advantage count with just 36 seconds played in OT, when Luke Ferrara swept the puck beyond Nappier and into the net from a tight angle to ensure Phantoms claimed both points on the night.
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 2-1 Bristol Pitbulls
Phantoms goals:
21:28 (PP 1-1 BP): #45 Callum Buglass / #19 Luke Ferrara / #62 Janne Laakkonen (PPG)
60:36 (PP 2-1 BP): #19 Luke Ferrara / #2 Tom Norton / #62 Janne Laakkonen (PPG)
Pitbulls goal:
16:27 (PP 0-1 BP): #59 Ewan Hill / #24 Tanner Butler (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #30 Hayden Lavigne
Pitbulls man of the match: #33 Tommy Nappier