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Lightning back on top form
After a disappointing period recently with only one win from four games, the weekend saw an emphatic return to form for Milton Keynes and a maximum points haul.
Telford Tigers were no match for a Lightning side who had vowed to cut out the mistakes and cruised to an 8-2 win at the Thunderdome without ever really reaching top gear. The previous weekend’s games had seen Nick Poole coaching from the bench to free up an import slot for the returning Monir Kalgoum, but on Saturday it was D-man Lukas Zatopek’s turn to sit out, as Poole returned to the second line to partner Kalgoum and Adam Brittle – Gary Clarke joining Blaz Emersic and Andre Smulter on the top line.
The Tigers held out for just under nine minutes when Grant McPherson picked up a Michael Wales’ pass to score the first goal of the evening. An unmarked Monir Kalgoum scored goal number two only six minutes later, converting a pass from Poole – and seconds later Michael Wales set up Emersic to shoot past goalie Martin Clarkson. The onslaught was enough to begin dissolving Telford’s confidence, with the Shropshire side registering only four shots on netminder Alex Mettam during the entire first period.
The goals continued in the second period, with Telford-born Gary Clarke netting for Lightning at 24:42, picking up on a rebounding shot from Leigh Jamieson off the boards behind the goal. The Tigers’ defence then failed to keep pace with the speeding Matt Towalski who took McPherson’s pass to put Lightning 5-0 up at 35:53. There was a brief respite for the visitors when Josh Bruce netted with a shot which Alex Mettam initially blocked but could not stop trickling over the line with only 80 seconds of the second period remaining.
Anyone returning to their seat late for the third period would have missed Lightning’s sixth goal, only seven seconds after the restart, and it was seventh heaven for the home side when D-man Michael Farn netted past an unsighted Clarkson. The Tigers made another attempt to fight back with Joe Henry netting on 45:20, but ultimately it was futile – and Lightning’s top scorer this season, Andre Smulter, completed the demolition when he connected with a Gary Clarke pass to score the home side’s eighth and final goal of the evening.
Sunday’s road trip to the EPL’s third-placed side Basingstoke was to prove a harder battle, but skipper Adam Carr led from the front to score the winning penalty shot for a 4-3 victory on Bison’s home ice. But it was goalie Barry Hollyhead who took a deserved Man Of The Match award after saving all three Bison penalty shots, from Ondrej Lauko, Steve Moria and Viktor Kubenko.
It was the second time in two weeks that Bison and Lightning supporters have seen their teams involved in penalty shoot out drama – and the second time that Lightning had emerged victorious. On Sunday, it was Andre Smulter’s turn to stay on the bench as Lukas Zatopek returned to bolster Lightning’s defence.
A very evenly-matched game saw Lightning take advantage with only 16 seconds before the first break, when Nick Poole connected with a pass from Monir Kalgoum, to make sure the visitors had the momentum going into the break. And only four minutes into the second period, Blaz Emersic set up Gary Clarke for MK’s second goal. Bison then failed to take advantage when defenders Michael Farn and then Lukas Zatopek each spent two minutes in the penalty box, and it took until 45 minutes had been played for Bison to register a goal thanks to an unassisted Ben Davies. Ondrej Lauko scored another unassisted home goal at 54:44 but Lightning’s inspirational captain Carr restored the visitors’ goal advantage only seconds later. Basingstoke kept themselves in the game when Viktor Kubenko levelled at 57:28, but the overtime period produced no further goals, meaning both sets of supporters were to sit through their second penalty shoot out between the two sides in as many weeks. Carr calmly netted Lightning’s first and although Emersic’s shot was saved, Hollyhead saving all three of Bison’s shots meant that the visitors took the spoils, and confidence in the Lightning camp was restored.
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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 |
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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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- Nicky Chinn signs for MK Lightning
- Adam Carr back for more with MK
- Phoenix keep the Faith
- MK Lightning announce Netminding duo
- MK boys are back in town
