Phoenix strike Lightning for eighth straight win
11:53pm Monday 16th January 2012 in Other sport By Nigel McFarlane
PATIENCE:Tom Duggan lines up his shot for the second Phoenix goal
EPL ICE HOCKEY:
Manchester Phoenix 6 Milton Keynes Lightning 3
Manchester Phoenix continued their superb run of recent form on Sunday night, grabbing an eighth consecutive win in yet another thrilling classic against Milton Keynes Lightning.
Phoenix came into the game on the back of a 5-0 win away win at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday, and got off to the best possible start with a goal by Tom Duggan after just 96 seconds.
But Lightning, smarting after a 6-5 home defeat to title-chasing Guildford Flames the previous evening, equalised through Adam Carr 80 seconds after that.
The game was being played at a frantic pace, and MKL applied plenty of pressure, but it was Phoenix who edged ahead on 16 minutes, when Martin Cingel broke away during a penalty kill and passed to Duggan, who scored a shorthanded goal to give Phoenix the lead at the end of the first period.
A breathless and penalty-riddled second period saw Lightning equalise on the power play when MKL’s man of the match Juraj Gracik slotted home on 25 minutes. Juraj Faith once again gave Phoenix the lead on 29 minutes, but Lightning came back yet again less than a minute later with a goal from Grant McPherson. MKL missed an opportunity to take the lead with a five on three power play as the period neared its end.
Phoenix made it 4-3 on 44 minutes, when a speculative shot from Ben Wood slipped underneath Alex Mettam in the Lightning goal. Three and a half minutes later, Manchester took a decisive lead when Jaroslav Spelda blasted home a power play goal, and the game was wrapped up on 51 minutes when Ladislav Harabin smashed in another power play goal from the blue line.
Phoenix coach Tony hand said: “Games against Lightning are never dull, and this was another superb evening’s entertainment for the fans.
“It was a hard game, and we knew Lightning would be desperate to make some headway after Saturday’s loss, but we kept our heads and took our chances.
“We are on fire right now, and this sets us up perfectly for two crunch games against Guildford Flames next weekend.”
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