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Another mixed weekend for Flames
Photograph of the Guildford Flames in action against the Milton Keynes Lightning copyright of Dave Steadman.
After outputting 8 goals in consecutive games, including an 8-3 road win in Sheffield on Saturday, the Guildford Flames ice hockey club were looking for a solid offensive effort in a key outing at home against Milton Keynes Lightning 24 hours later. However, a hungry Lightning side had a different agenda, netting a 2 goal lead before the game was barely 3 minutes hold, then adding 3 more goals in the final period against no reply to walk out of Spectrum with a 5-0 win.
The Bolts got on the board first with the game winner just 85 seconds in with a Lukas Zatopek point shot eluded Miroslav Hala. Not long after that an errant Flames cross ice pass near the defensive blueline found the tape of Adam Brittle who was able to go it alone on a breakaway where he made a successful shift and tucked the puck away for a 2-0 advantage. The lead held up to the end of the period and indeed through the following 20 minutes before the Lightning tacked on 3 more strikes for good measure. At 43:25 Blaz Emersic tripled the lead before Matt Towalski, just over 5 minutes later, made sure the game out of reach. At 50:25 Andre Smulter rubbed salt on the wound with the final goal of the event.
During their visit to Yorkshire the night prior, the Flames opened a 4-1 first period lead in advance of an 8-3 win. Milos Melicherik, who slotted in for Martin Masa, opened the scoring at 6:05. David Savage doubled the lead in the 14th minute before the home side cut the margin in half thanks to a Jann Ozolins powerplay marker at 15:46. Rick Plant needed just 23 seconds to get that one back and re-store the 2 goal lead allowing Nathan Rempel to widen the gap to 3 just 5 seconds from period time. Another pair of Flames goals thanks to Lukas Smital on the powerplay and David Longstaff at 24:10 and 28:54, respectively, opened a commanding 5 goal spread, but a pair of Steeldog replies, the 2nd and hat trick goals by Ozolins, less than 3 minutes apart just beyond the midway point brought them back to within 3. Another late Rempel goal, however, this time just 16 seconds from the break, cut off any further comeback hopes before the Canadian forward completed his hat trick at 47:40 to cap off the scoring and the final result.
Flames Head Coach Paul Dixon reflected on the results:
“It is a frustrating outcome to a weekend that started so positively. We played a real solid game on Saturday at Sheffield where we have not always been able to have success. We got a good effort from every line and we made good on the quality chances we created. Coming off a pair of wins into Sunday in a very important game to try and keep pace with the top of the table, we expected to come out and give MK everything they could handle. It was the opposite, unfortunately. We came out very flat. We had no intensity and just no zip to fend off a very good team that was hungry for a win and was ready to do anything to get it. Our 2nd period was our best effort of the night. We did outshoot them in that part of the game and perhaps if we could have had a breakthrough with a goal may have been able to ride a bit of a momentum wave into a better closing to the game. That, however, does not change the fact that they came ready to play and we did not. They earned points by outworking us and demonstrating their desire to win. It was a costly loss, but our response to this will be a very good tell of what kind of team we have. We have the league leaders both nights this coming weekend and we have an opportunity to have some control over getting ourselves back in the race, but we need energy and an effort we severely lacked against Milton Keynes. Our focus this week is to be sure we are fully ready to make the most of an opportunity that will not come again this season.”
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-5 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-4 |
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
4-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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- Campbell and Flames agree terms
- Flames re-sign David Savage
- Longstaff stays with Flames
- Flames re-sign Curtis Huppe
- Towe departs Flames
