MATCH REPORT | Phantoms Claw Shootout Win from Tigers

The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms travelled west to Telford for the second Playoff weekend.

Billy Thorpe started the game with a playoff attitude as he batted off Tom Byrne and Edgars Landsbergs chances in front of Phantoms goalie Hayden Lavigne’s net - Cam Hough also stopped David Thomson in his skates when he intercepted his play in front of the nettie. In true playoff fashion Joe Gretton and Adam Harding tussle mid-ice following an altercation.

Whilst playing a technical game, the Phantoms still needed to shoot the puck into the net. This was trialled when Jasper Foster was handed a perfect opportunity from Tigers goalie Brad Day. The nettie passed Foster the puck, giving him a mostly open net. Unfortunately for Foster, Day realised the mistake quickly and rushed back to his net to save the shot - Barni Sári rang Day’s iron trying to get the Phantoms on the scoreboard.

There was an equal fight from the Tigers, as Joe Aston tried to get the better of Lavigne after putting a flying puck onto his stick the forward continued to bounce the puck off Lavigne’s pads before the netminder froze the puck. The Phantoms lit the lamp thanks to Cam Hough when he shot the puck past Day. Jarvis Hunt and Nathan Salem were punished for kneeing and roughing penalties, leaving three Phantoms on the ice against five Tigers; James Smith and Thomson made the Phantoms pay for these penalties with two powerplay goals to give the Tigers a first eriod lead.

In the first half of the second period, the Tigers dominated the ice with Lavigne facing shots from Scott McKenzie, Rhodes Mitchell-King and Harding; but Lavigne showed his skills when he saved a yawning net shot from Thomson as the goalie had been drawn out from a previous attempt. Tigers scored a third goal through Thomson.

Aston sat two for interference giving the Phantoms a powerplay, both Janne Laakkonen and Luke Ferrara wound their sticks up at Day; the chance came from Brad Bowering making a blue-line shot at Day with Hough tidying up the goal - this wasn’t going to be the first time Day was fooled by an initial shot; Laakkonen broke away and towards Day, he fired a shot this rebounded, Tom Norton swooped in and tapped the puck home. Now the scoreboard was balanced, the Phantoms wanted to enter the final period of regulation with an edge: Richard Hartmann, Louie Kynaston and Austin Mitchell-King shot at Day.

Remaining neck-and-neck both teams returned to a more technical style of play, this was demonstrated when Bowering went coast to coast then drop passed to A.Mitchell-King to shoot at Day but A.Mitchell King hit the plexi. Hough was provided a chance to invade the offensive zone after Laakkonen dispossessed Thomson in front of Lavigne’s net then passed to Hough.

The Phantoms didn’t take long to take the lead in the game as Salem took the puck into the Tigers’ zone, the puck found Duncan Speirs who rocketed the puck to the roof of Day’s net. This made the game more tense and volatile when Thomson boarded Thorpe and Harding tussled with Hartmann following a shot made on Day. As the Tigers attacked the Phantoms' defence was ready to shut them down, this was evidenced when Thomson came close to Lavigne’s net for a shot but Bowering and Thorpe worked well together to stop this play, Bowering body-checking Thomson and Thorpe skating away with the puck; Thomson made another close attempt on Lavigne’s net, but the nettie outwitted the import forward..