Milton Keynes Lightning beat Rostock Piranhas 7-0 at Planet Ice Milton Keynes on 6 September, building on a two-goal first-period lead in their pre-season meeting. Two goals 38 seconds apart in the middle period took the score from 3-0 to 5-0, and Liam Stewart completed a two-goal game in the third. Lightning also scored once on the power play in each of the first and final periods. Rostock could not find a reply, although they recorded more shots in the third period than in either of the first two.
With Jordan Hedley in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning and Sebastian Albrecht in goal for Rostock Piranhas, Danny Weight put Lightning ahead at 12:21, with Archie Hazeldine and David Thomson providing the assists. It was the first goal of a spell that gave the home side a two-goal advantage before the opening break. Rostock’s Joey Luknowsky received two minutes for holding at 13:01, and Lightning made use of the extra skater. Harry Gulliver scored at 14:19, assisted by Hazeldine and Jarred White, to make it 2-0. Hazeldine had helped set up both goals, while White’s contribution to the second would be followed by a goal of his own later in the game.
Lightning took that 2-0 lead into the first interval. Weight’s opener had come at even strength; Gulliver’s goal was the first of two power-play goals for MKL. The home side recorded 15 shots in the opening period to Rostock’s three. Those figures show the number of shots each side put on goal, while the score reflected Lightning’s two scoring chances that had counted. For Rostock, the immediate task after the break was to close a gap that had grown in less than two minutes of playing time.
Jordan Cownie added the third goal at 24:21, scoring unassisted at even strength. Lightning then had a penalty to deal with when Carter Hamill was given two minutes for holding at 26:37. Rostock did not score during that penalty, so the home side still led 3-0 when play returned to even strength. There was no immediate rush of further goals: the three-goal margin remained in place until well into the second half of the period. It was then that Lightning put more distance between the teams.
Cameron Hamill scored at 33:42, with William Nowik assisting, to put Lightning 4-0 ahead. Just 38 seconds later, Stewart added his first of the game at 34:20 from Jake Hayward’s assist. Both goals came at even strength and changed the score from 3-0 to 5-0 in a short passage. Cownie had extended the first-period lead earlier in the period, but the quick pair from Hamill and Stewart made the gap considerably wider before the next interval. Rostock had not scored by the time the teams reached the second break.
Lightning went into the final period 5-0 ahead, having added three goals without reply in the middle 20 minutes. They recorded 17 shots in that period to Rostock’s four. The first two periods had therefore produced five different Lightning scorers: Weight and Gulliver before the first interval, followed by Cownie, Hamill and Stewart. Two of those five goals had come with an extra skater or against one, with Gulliver’s the only power-play goal to that point. The lead did not depend on another penalty to grow.
Stewart scored again at 48:09, assisted by Bradey Johnson and Cownie, taking the score to 6-0. He was Lightning’s only two-goal scorer, and Cownie now had an assist to go with his second-period goal. Rostock recorded eight shots in the final period, compared with three in the first and four in the second, but still could not get on the scoreboard. The visitors had more shots in those closing 20 minutes than in either earlier period, though Lightning maintained their lead and added one more goal.
That final goal followed a two-minute high-sticking penalty to Rostock’s Mark Kaleinikovas at 50:27. Jarred White scored unassisted on the power play at 51:30 to make it 7-0, having already assisted Gulliver’s first-period power-play goal. There was no further scoring. Lightning finished with seven goals from 48 shots, while Rostock recorded 15 shots and no goals. The second-period burst had established the five-goal margin; Stewart’s second and White’s power-play goal completed the scoring in the third.
Source: Official eSports gamesheet
Scoring summary
MK Lightning: Liam Stewart 2+0, Jarred White 1+1, Jordan Cownie 1+1, Danny Weight 1+0, Cameron Hamill 1+0, Harry Gulliver 1+0, Archie Hazeldine 0+2, Jake Hayward 0+1, David Thomson 0+1, William Nowik 0+1, Bradey Johnson 0+1.
Rostock Piranhas: None.
