Milton Keynes Lightning beat Sheffield Steeldogs 7-3 at Planet Ice Milton Keynes on 10 October, with a Sean Norris hat-trick helping turn a one-goal game after 40 minutes into a clear NIHL National win. Norris restored Lightning’s lead in the second period before the home side scored four times in the third. The result means Lightning have won each of their last seven competitive games.
With Jordan Hedley in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning and Shane Owen in goal for Sheffield Steeldogs, Jonathan Phillips put Sheffield ahead after just 33 seconds, assisted by Walker Sommer and Dante Salituro. Lightning’s answer came 36 seconds later: Liam Stewart equalised from Carter Hamill’s assist at 01:09. The teams had each scored before the game was 70 seconds old, but it was Lightning who took the lead into the first interval.
Milique Martelly put the home side 2-1 ahead at 08:58, with David Thomson and Danny Weight providing the assists. It was the first of Thomson’s five assists in the game. Lightning held that advantage through the rest of the opening period, recording 11 shots on goal to Sheffield’s five. The teams played in front of an attendance of 2,519 on Country Night in Milton Keynes, with Lightning wearing their special country jersey.
Sheffield answered quickly after the restart. Salituro equalised at 20:37, assisted by Jonathan Phillips and David Phillips, bringing the Steeldogs back to 2-2. Their reply lasted less than two minutes before Norris put Lightning ahead again at 22:20. Weight and Thomson assisted as the score moved to 3-2, giving Norris the first goal of what would become his first hat-trick of the season across competitive fixtures.
That one-goal lead stayed in place for the rest of the middle period. Sheffield’s early equaliser had ensured Lightning could not simply carry their first-period advantage through to the finish, while Norris’s response meant the visitors had to find another goal to draw level. The second-period shot count was 14-11 to Lightning, but neither side added to the score before the break.
The gap widened almost immediately in the third. Norris scored again at 40:13, with Weight and Thomson supplying the assists once more, to give Lightning their first two-goal lead at 4-2. Just 92 seconds later, Mack Stewart converted a penalty shot after Liam Morris was called for slashing. At 5-2, the two early third-period goals had put considerably more distance between the teams than there had been at the second interval.
The final period also brought penalties for both sides. Mack Stewart received a two-minute diving penalty and a further 10-minute penalty for the same offence at 46:18. Later, Morris was given two minutes for roughing at 49:38, and Lightning scored on the resulting power play. Weight struck at 50:12 from Thomson and Archie Hazeldine to make it 6-2. His goal, alongside three assists, meant he had scored for the third successive competitive game.
Sheffield still found a reply. Phillips scored his second at 52:24, assisted by Sommer and Jonathan Kirk, cutting the deficit to 6-3. It was the Steeldogs’ third goal and their only one of the final period; Lightning recorded 17 shots to Sheffield’s four in those 20 minutes. Norris completed his hat-trick at 57:42, again assisted by Weight and Thomson, to settle the score at 7-3. Thomson had assisted on all three of Norris’s goals, while Weight had a hand in each of them as well.
Sheffield’s early opener and second-period equaliser had kept Lightning to a single-goal advantage for much of the game. The difference came after the second break, when Norris’s second goal and Mack Stewart’s penalty shot made it 5-2 inside two minutes. Norris’s late third completed his first hat-trick of the competitive season and closed out Lightning’s seven-goal win.
Source: Official NIHL National gamesheet.
Scoring summary
MK Lightning: Sean Norris 3+0, Danny Weight 1+3, Mack Stewart 1+0, Milique Martelly 1+0, Liam Stewart 1+0, David Thomson 0+5, Archie Hazeldine 0+1, Carter Hamill 0+1.
Sheffield Steeldogs: Jonathan Phillips 2+0, Dante Salituro 1+1, Walker Sommer 0+2, David Phillips 0+1, Jonathan Kirk 0+1.
First Published by Milton Keynes Lightning mk-lightning.co.uk
Photo credits: Tony Sargent
