Milton Keynes Lightning beat Peterborough Phantoms 6-4 at Planet Ice Peterborough on Sunday, 8 November, after losing a three-goal lead and reclaiming it late in the third period. Liam Stewart broke a 4-4 tie with 3:48 remaining in the NIHL National game, before Archie Hazeldine added his second goal. The result gave Lightning a fourth successive competitive win.

With Will Bray in goal for Peterborough Phantoms and Jordan Hedley in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning, Lightning went ahead after just 1:28 when Hazeldine scored from Danny Weight and David Thomson. Hazeldine was back from international duty with Great Britain, as were Carter Hamill and head coach Pete Russell. The visitors held their lead until the closing minute of the first period, when a two-minute Lightning too-many-men penalty gave Peterborough a power play. Rais Francis equalised at 19:01, assisted by Janne Laakkonen and Dillon Lawrence, sending the teams into the interval at 1-1. The Phantoms had recorded 15 shots on goal to Lightning’s 11.

The middle period turned on three Lightning goals in 2:03. Billy Thorpe received two minutes for interference at 23:47, and Thomson put MKL back in front on the power play at 25:05, with Kell Beattie and Weight assisting. Ten seconds later, Hamill scored at even strength from Bradey Johnson and Stewart to make it 1-3. Thomson added another at 27:08, again assisted by Weight and Beattie, opening a three-goal advantage at 1-4. His two goals took his season tally to 16 across all competitive fixtures, and he had scored for the fourth successive competitive game.

Peterborough did not let that margin stand through the second interval. Jake Hayward received two minutes for holding at 37:05, and Adam Berg scored on the resulting power play 20 seconds later. Francis and Lawrence assisted as the Phantoms cut Lightning’s lead to 2-4. Laakkonen then scored from Louie Kynaston and Callum Buglass at 38:27, bringing the hosts within one. Peterborough’s two replies came 1:02 apart and changed the position at the break: after Lightning had led by three midway through the period, they took a 3-4 lead into the final 20 minutes.

That one-goal difference lasted until late in the third. Joseph Gretton was given two minutes for hooking at 54:07, but it was Peterborough who scored during the penalty. It was their second equaliser of the game, following Francis’s first-period reply.

Lightning’s answer came 1:14 after Pollard’s goal. With the teams back at even strength, Stewart scored at 56:12 from Hamill and Beattie to restore the visitors’ lead at 4-5. Hamill finished with a goal and an assist, while Beattie’s pass was his third assist of the match. Peterborough had erased a three-goal deficit, but Stewart’s goal left them needing another equaliser with less than four minutes to play.

Hazeldine settled the score at 59:36 into the empty net, with Stewart and Weight assisting, to make it 4-6. Stewart finished with a goal and two assists; Weight had four assists, including one on each of Hazeldine’s goals. Lightning recorded 26 shots on goal to Peterborough’s six in the third period, and 56 to 31 over the match. It was Stewart who put MKL back ahead after the Phantoms’ late equaliser, with Hazeldine’s second goal closing out the win.

Source: Official NIHL National gamesheet.

Scoring summary

MK Lightning: David Thomson 2+1, Archie Hazeldine 2+0, Liam Stewart 1+2, Carter Hamill 1+1, Danny Weight 0+4, Kell Beattie 0+3, Bradey Johnson 0+1.

Peterborough Phantoms: Janne Laakkonen 1+1, Rais Francis 1+1, Nathan Pollard 1+0, Adam Berg 1+0, Dillon Lawrence 0+2, Will Bray 0+1, Louie Kynaston 0+1, Luke Ferrara 0+1, Callum Buglass 0+1.

First Published by Milton Keynes Lightning mk-lightning.co.uk

Photo credits: Tony Sargent