Bradley Johnson took home Saturday night’s Man of the Match award following Lightning’s dramatic 2–1 overtime victory against Leeds Knights. All over the ice throughout the night, Bradley put in a brilliant effort, showcasing excellent positional awareness, quick hands and impressive skill.

On Sunday, Liam Stewart took the honours after contributing a goal and an assist in Lightning’s convincing 6–1 away win in Telford. A key performance on the road helped the team secure another impressive result.

The team delivered two impressive performances against Leeds and Telford, showing a really good level of connection both with and without the puck. Our players demonstrated strong group performances, playing with controlled aggression and confidence to play, high energy on the ice. The performance gave us two good wins as a reward for there efforts. It was fantastic to see the rink packed out on Saturday, coupled with a good traveling support on Sunday. These elements not only fueled our performance but also highlighted the growing camaraderie within the team and the supporters.

Bringing experience, versatility and a proven eye for goal, Toms Rutkis adds further depth to the Lightning lineup.

The 28-year-old forward, who can play on the right wing or at centre, shoots left and stands at 6'0" (184cm). Rutkis has built a lengthy career across the British ice hockey landscape, featuring in both the Elite Ice Hockey League and the National Ice Hockey League.

His career statistics highlight his ability to contribute offensively, with 71 goals and 74 assists across 173 NIHL appearances, alongside 10 goals and 13 assists in 166 EIHL games. He has also enjoyed productive spells in junior hockey, including impressive scoring numbers at England Under-16 and Under-18 level.

Having continued his career at senior level, Rutkis brings valuable experience to the ice and another attacking option for the Lightning. His versatility across the forward positions gives the team additional flexibility as the season progresses.

https://www.nihlnational.com/game/709-mkl-rom

Cole Ceci gives Romford an experienced, left-catching Canadian presence in goal, with a recent record spanning the NIHL, SPHL and ECHL. His first Raiders regular season carried a substantial workload and included shutouts, making his ability to hold structure through repeated starts a central part of the visitors’ defensive outlook (25-26 • NIHL • Romford Raiders: GP 51, SV% .900, GAA 3.77, SO 2). Before moving to Romford, Ceci played for the Evansville Thunderbolts, where his regular-season save percentage and goals-against average improved across his listed SPHL campaigns. His strongest supplied post-season line also came with Evansville, pairing a notably high save percentage with a low goals-against average and shutouts. He has additionally appeared in the ECHL for the Atlanta Gladiators and Worcester Railers. For Lightning, the task is clear: create traffic, force lateral movement and prevent Ceci from settling into the kind of rhythm that a heavily used netminder can build.

Few Romford forwards pose a more direct production problem than Tjay Anderson. The left-shooting English forward enters this fixture after a Raiders regular season in which his finishing rose sharply while his playmaking remained a major part of the return (2025-2026 • NIHL • Romford Raiders: GP 52, G–A–P 40–44–84, PIM 44). That line represents another step in a clear run of NIHL growth: his earlier Raiders campaign leaned more heavily towards assists, while the following season brought a far more balanced split between goals and helpers. Anderson has also dressed for the Romford Buccaneers, producing in each of his listed appearances there, and has supplied offence in Raiders play-off action as well as the NIHL Cup. Milton Keynes must therefore account for both sides of his game. He can feature as the finisher, but his record also shows sustained capacity to create for team-mates; overcommitting to either threat leaves the other available.

Arriving in Romford with Canadian university, ECHL and OHL experience, Barret Kirwin gives the Raiders a left-shooting forward whose background differs from the established NIHL core. His most recent listed campaign came with Dalhousie University in USports, where his output combined goals and assists alongside regular penalty minutes (25-26 • USports • Dalhousie Univ.: GP 14, G–A–P 3–6–9, PIM 23). That spell continued a multi-season association with Dalhousie, including a previous campaign in which his assist return formed the larger share of his scoring. Kirwin has also played professional hockey for the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL, while his junior record includes the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL. The Owen Sound season is particularly relevant when assessing his offensive ceiling, because it shows a far stronger goal return over a full schedule than his recent university line. For Lightning, this is a player to assess beyond current totals: his record spans different roles, levels and scoring profiles.