The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms battled for a solid win over the Hull Seahawks to climb their playoff group.
Phantoms got off to the best possible start when Finnish forward Janne Laakkonen squeezed home his second goal in as many games to give Phantoms an early lead.
But after Jarvis Hunt saw an effort go narrowly wide, Hull hit back with 4:04 on the clock, when the puck fell kindly for Alex Kent to rip beyond Hayden Lavigne.
But they weren’t level for long, as Nathan Salem restored the Phantoms lead when he cut through the right circle and ripped a lovely shot past Dmitri Zimozdra in the Seahawks’ net.
Salem made it three with his second on 6:26, capitalising on a breakaway chance which saw him exchange passes with Austin Mitchell-King before ripping into the net.
The opening seven minutes were everything Saturday night’s game wasn’t as a fifth goal hit the net at 6:41 - Owen Bruton beating the glove of Lavigne after a good set up by Emil Švec.
The next goal felt as though it would hold the keys to the game for either side and that was how it turned out. Richard Hartmann scored it when he fired his first home Phantoms goal through the five hole of Zimozdra, after good set up play by Barni Sari.
Captain Luke Ferrara made it five with four and a half minutes to play in the middle period, as Phantoms worked a powerplay chance to him up high, and he blasted a slap shot beyond Zimozdra.
Cam Hough went close as the period reached its end after a good feed from Callum Buglass, but Zimozdra produced a fine stop to deny him.
The sides traded chances at the start of the third as Hough and Jason Hewitt went close for their respective sides, before Salem saw a hat-trick goal washed out by the referees.
Mitchell-King put the icing on the cake in the closing moments, when he found the space to guide the puck into the empty net.
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 6-2 Hull Seahawks
Phantoms goals:
00:51 (PP 1-0 HS): #62 Janne Laakkonen / #23 Brad Bowering / #19 Luke Ferrara (EHG)
4:28 (PP 2-1 HS): #91 Nathan Salem / #38 Duncan Speirs / #45 Callum Buglass (EHG)
6:26 (PP 3-1 HS): #91 Nathan Salem / #24 Austin Mitchell-King (EHG)
24:51 (PP 4-2 HS): #27 Richard Hartmann / #92 Barni Sari / #2 Tom Norton (EHG)
35:29 (PP 5-2 HS): #19 Luke Ferrara / #23 Brad Bowering / #62 Janne Laakkonen (PPG)
58:14 (PP 6-2 HS): #24 Austin Mitchell-King / #91 Nathan Salem / #38 Duncan Speirs (ENG)
Seahawks goals:
4:04 (PP 1-1 HS): #19 Alex Kent / #15 Jamie Chilcot (EHG)
6:41 (PP 3-2 HS): #11 Owen Bruton / #71 Emil Svec / #73 Josh Hodgkinson (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #91 Nathan Salem
Seahawks man of the match: #9 Johnny Corneil