The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms took a trip up north to visit the Hull Seahawks in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday.
Both teams wanted to start strong and gain leadership on the scoreboard, Luke Ferrara and Cam Hough were the ones to lead this, as both took shots at goalie Dmitri Zimozdra within the first two minutes of the game. The Seahawks weren’t shy to shoot at Hayden Lavigne either with James Spurr and Owen Sobchak taking shots but Lavigne denied the pair.
As the first period continued, the tension got to Calum McGill as he tied up Joe Gretton, both sat for roughing penalties. The Seahawks went on to receive two further penalties, one for too many men and the second for hooking, this gave the Phantoms a two-man advantage for 10 seconds, the Phantoms tried to capitalise with Janne Laakkonen shooting at Zimozdra but he rang the iron.
Bobby Chamberlain was penalised for interference, putting the Phantoms on a delayed powerplay, he decided to double this when he boarded Austin Mitchell-King, providing the Phantoms with a little under four minutes power play in the second period.
As neither team was able to score in the first period, this led to frustrations growing, with Bobby Chamberlain shoving Joe Gretton after the whistle was blown and Jason Hewitt hitting Brad Bowering in the face with his stick whilst freeing his stick for a rebound.
Lavigne faced a variety of shots on goal, some being from a distance and some being close and personal. Owen Sobchak tried to shoot at Lavigne from afar but this was batted away then Johnny Corneil tried to tie up the goal but Lavigne foiled his plans. The period ended 0-0, this seemed to get the better of Sobchak as he whacked his stick in the boards after the whistle was blown.
Hough snuck his way into the Seahawks' zone, making sure that the Seahawks were following him, this allowed him to pass to Duncan Speirs who was just below the blue line, he wound his stick up at Zimozdra but shot too wide. Soon after, Corneil shot at Lavigne from afar, Lavigne went to glove save the puck but it bounced off his basket and went into the goal.
Despite the setback, the Phantoms weren’t ready to end the game, they put pressure on the Seahawks in their zone, with Ferrara and Laakkonen passing between each other and firing at Zimozdra. Lee Bonner dispossessed Norton at the blue line, whilst trying to think on his skates, Norton tripped Bonner as he began to breakaway towards Lavigne, this provided him with a penalty shot, Lavigne stood tall and knee pad saved the shot.
With less than two minutes on the clock, the Phantoms called a time-out, Lavigne was taken out of the goal providing the Phantoms with an extra skater, the Phantoms had full control of the puck and of the Seahawks zone. They created traffic in front of Zimozdra’s net making it hard to predict but the Seahawks stood strong and denied the Phantoms overtime.
Final Score: Hull Seahawks 1-0 Peterborough Phantoms
After the game we asked Tom Norton, for his thoughts: ‘It was a real close battle and you know we worked hard defensively. We had some good grade A chances that maybe we could have buried, but Zimozdra stood tall for them in goal.
"I guess we look at the shots by the end of the game, we had 27 [shots on goal] and obviously Lavi played unbelievable for us there. Facing 48 shots he stood tall for us there, so, you know, we've got to try and find the back of the net there more.
"I think we can be proud with how we came and battled. I think we know we've probably just got to be a little bit more clinical in front of the goal there…. it was just two good hockey teams that went toe to toe and two good netminding performances as well."
When talking about Sundays return, Tom said: "It’s just a different rink, isn’t it really. It's going to be a lot more claustrophobic for them, you know time in space can get taken away. Again, I think for us clearly, we've got to bury those chances that we get, if we’re only gonna get 27 shots in the game, those grade A’s that we get, we've got to put in the back of the net."
Man Of The Match:
Seahawks: #21 Bobby Chamberlain
Phantoms: #91 Nathan Salem
Seahawks Goals:
44:18 (HS 1-0 PP) #9 Johnny Corneil / #23 Lee Haywood / #74 Lee Bonner (EHG)