Milton Keynes Lightning were beaten 3-4 by Rostock Piranhas at Planet Ice Milton Keynes on 5 September, despite twice coming from behind to equalise in the pre-season fixture. Liam Stewart gave the home side an early lead, but Rostock went ahead through two Jesper Öhrvall goals and later reclaimed it on the power play. David Thomson brought Lightning level for a second time before Yannis Walch struck with 3:12 remaining to decide the game.
With Jared Whale in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning and Rodion Schumacher in goal for Rostock Piranhas, Liam Stewart opened the scoring at 04:22, assisted by Jordan Cownie and Bradey Johnson. Lightning’s lead lasted until midway through the opening period. Kell Beattie and Rostock’s Mark Kaleinikovas had received matching five-minute fighting majors at 06:19, while Jake Hayward served a separate two-minute interference penalty from 07:16. Neither penalty was the one behind Rostock’s first goal.
That equaliser came after Johnson received two minutes for slashing at 11:36. Öhrvall scored on the power play at 12:19, with Kevin Kunz and Erik Gollenbeck credited with the assists, to make it 1-1. Rostock then turned the score around at even strength: Öhrvall scored again at 14:38, this time from Gollenbeck, to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. His two goals changed an early Lightning advantage into a one-goal deficit before the first interval.
Lightning had an opportunity with an extra skater late in the period when Öhrvall was given two minutes for hooking at 17:05. Yannis Walch also received two minutes for cross-checking at 18:53, so the penalties overlapped before the break. The home side did not score during that passage, and Rostock reached the interval 2-1 ahead. The teams had taken seven shots each in the opening 20 minutes; the difference on the scoreboard was Öhrvall’s power-play goal.
The one-goal gap remained until 32:58, when Jarred White equalised for Lightning from Toms Rutkis’s assist. White’s even-strength goal made it 2-2 and ended the stretch in which Rostock had held the lead since the first period. The tie lasted just over three minutes. Archie Salisbury received two minutes for delay of game at 34:16, and Jannick Stein put Rostock back in front on the power play at 36:04, assisted by Ilija Fleischmann.
Lightning answered before the second interval. At 37:49, David Thomson scored at even strength from Jake Hayward and Ed Knaggs to make it 3-3, one minute and 45 seconds after Stein’s goal. It was the home side’s second equaliser after falling behind, and it ensured neither of Rostock’s one-goal leads carried through the middle-period break. The three goals from White, Stein and Thomson had taken the game from 1-2 to 3-3 in less than five minutes.
There were further penalties with three seconds left in the second period. Thomson received two separate two-minute penalties, for cross-checking and unsportsmanlike conduct, while Rostock’s Fleischmann was given two minutes for roughing at the same time. The sides nevertheless went into the final period level. Lightning had outscored Rostock 2-1 in the middle 20 minutes, but both visiting power-play goals had been answered by home equalisers at even strength.
The third period stayed scoreless through another series of penalties. Sean Norris received a five-minute boarding penalty at 47:44, when Rostock were also assessed two separate two-minute penalties, including one to Stein for delay of game. Rostock later received a two-minute team penalty for too many players at 51:39. Those calls did not produce a goal, leaving the game at 3-3 as the closing minutes approached.
Johnson was given two minutes for holding at 54:24, but that penalty ended without a goal at 56:24. Twenty-four seconds later, with the sides at even strength, Walch scored from Maximilian Braun and Joshua Geuss to put Rostock ahead 4-3. Lightning could not find a third equaliser in the remaining 3:12. The teams finished with 24 shots for Lightning and 23 for Rostock, but it was Walch’s late goal that separated them.
Source: Official gamesheet.
Scoring summary
MK Lightning: David Thomson 1+0, Jarred White 1+0, Liam Stewart 1+0, Jake Hayward 0+1, Toms Rutkis 0+1, Ed Knaggs 0+1, Bradey Johnson 0+1, Jordan Cownie 0+1.
Rostock Piranhas: Jesper Öhrvall 2+0, Jannick Stein 1+0, Yannis Walch 1+0, Erik Gollenbeck 0+2, Maximilian Braun 0+1, Joshua Geuss 0+1, Ilija Fleischmann 0+1, Kevin Kunz 0+1.
