Recapping week 26 of the NIHL
Friday 7th March:
The Swindon Wildcats made it back to back shutout victories over the Berkshire Bees with a 3-0 victory. Tyler Perre with the 13 save shutout and Jake Bricknell scored his 46th goal of the season. A good bounce back from the defeat at home the weekend before.
Saturday 8th March:
The Leeds Knights beat their northern rivals the Hull Seahawks 7-4 on home ice with Kieran Brown leading by example with four goals on the night. Matt Barron also scored another hat-trick. The Seahawks tried to make the comeback getting the score back to 5-4 but the Knights put the game to bed in the third.
The Wildcats then secured the four-point weekend with a hard fought 4-2 win up in Dumfries against the Solway Sharks which really dampens the Scottish sides chances of making the play offs. Chris Jones scoring twice in the game with Bricknell adding another meaning he is three away from the fifty mark.
The Telford Tigers got a big away win against the Sheffield Steeldogs beating them 7-4 up north. Eric Henderson scoring four goals on the night taking his tally to 34 point in his last 10 games. Rhodes Mitchell-King also added three assists from defense.
The Bristol Pitbulls after a long wait finally got a big win at home against the Romford Raiders beating them 9-5 at the pound. Seven different goalscorers for the Pitbulls with the player coach Bari McKenzie scoring twice on the night.
And to complete the Saturday, the Peterborough Phantoms got their revenge on their rivals, the Milton Keynes Lightning as they beat them 5-1 in their own back yard. The Lightning without player coach Tim Wallace who missed the game through suspension. Laakkonen with 4 points on the night.
Sunday 9th March:
It was another cracker at the Sapphire between the Romford Raiders and the MK Lightning with the home side taking a 3-1 lead but the Lightning crawled their way back and took the game to overtime where they took the extra point with Mack Stewart scoring the game winning goal, keeping their title hopes alive.
The Hull Seahawks won a thriller against the Solway Sharks. Beating them on penalty shots with Švec, Bonner and Sobchak also scoring in the shootout. Bobby Chamberlain is now on a 29 game point streak with the Seahawks.
The Peterborough Phantoms completed the four-point weekend as they made a comeback from 2-0 down to beat the Sheffield Steeldogs who have had a tough weekend getting zero points across both games. Laakkonen with another four points taking his total to 8 on the weekend and 75 assists across the season.
The Leeds Knights were the other team to secure a four-point weekend with a fantastic 3-0 shutout away win against the Telford Tigers. Brown and Barron on the scoresheet again with 9/10 being scored by the duo. A 27 save shutout for Sam Gospel who has been so clutch all season long.
And finally to round off the weekend the Berkshire Bees won the battle at the bottom of the table as they beat the Bristol Pitbulls 5-3 on home ice. Oliver Hemmings-Maher with his first goal in the NIHL for the Bees. Liam Morris also scoring and assisting a further two goals on the night.
