Milton Keynes Lightning completed a late turnaround to beat Peterborough Phantoms 8-5 in a Pre-season fixture at Planet Ice Peterborough on 13 September. The game, watched by 952, saw Lightning recover from a 5-4 interval deficit to score four unanswered goals in the third period and claim the win on the road.
Peterborough struck early in the first period through Dominik Gabaj (05:03) and Dillon Lawrence (09:59) to open a two-goal lead. MK hit back before the interval: David Thomson reduced the deficit at 10:44 and Danny Weight levelled on 17:03 to make it 2-2 after twenty minutes.
The second period began with a quick double for Lightning. Toms Rutkis finished at 24:04, provided with assists from Kell Beattie and Cameron Hamill, and Weight added his second less than a minute later (24:16) from a Carter Hamill and David Thomson set-up to put MK 4-2 up. Peterborough responded, though, with Gabaj (33:35), Luke Ferrara (35:02) and another Lawrence finish (39:25) to retake the lead and move in front 5-4 at the second break.
The game tilted again after the interval. MK’s response was emphatic: Sean Norris equalised at 46:15, Jarred White restored the lead at 51:29 and Ed Knaggs made it 7-5 on 55:07. Kell Beattie sealed the scoring with a late marker at 59:32. All eight Lightning goals were recorded at even strength; the official summary shows Peterborough with two powerplay goals, while MK had none.
Jordan Hedley carried the goalkeeping duties for Milton Keynes, playing the full 60 minutes. Peterborough used Matt Hennessey for the evening in goal. The match was an end-to-end contest in which both sides had to deal with a physical encounter midway through the game: a series of penalties at 31:04 included a fighting major to Harry Gulliver and further sin-bin time for players from both benches.
The victory at Planet Ice Peterborough follows the previous day’s meeting between the clubs; the previous night’s game in Milton Keynes had also been a close one, and the back-to-back fixtures offered the coaching staff plenty to work on as the squad sharpens up ahead of the NIHL National programme.
Head Coach Pete Russell will take encouragement from the team’s composure to respond after conceding the late second-period swing. The forwards produced a strong finish in the third, while the defensive group and goaltending limited Peterborough to no further goals after the restart. With pre-season fixtures still providing opportunities to finalise lines and combinations, this was a useful test of character and depth on the road.
Milton Keynes now return to the dressing-room knowing they can overturn adversity and finish strongly as they continue preparations for the coming NIHL National season.
