Nottingham Panthers 4 MK Lightning 3 OT

Birthday boy Zack Phillips capped off his special day with a double – including the winner for Nottingham Panthers who edged past a dogged Milton Keynes Lightning after overtime.

It was a closely fought affair in the first period as Lightning stood up to the threat of Nottingham Panthers and even went in ahead after the first.

Kevin King was the man to get as he put MK in front, getting the puck beyond Panthers goalie Michael Garnett to open the scoring.

Panthers hit back with an equaliser from Alexander Mokshantsev, but four minutes later, Alex Forbes got the goal to restore MK’s lead.

Lightning then edged further ahead with a goal from former Panthers man Guillaume Doucet, but it only served to focus the Panthers.

Dan Spang pulled the home side to within one shortly after and when Phillips popped up with his first, it was the finish that sent the game into the extra period.

And he completed the job with a shot into the top corner to confirm a hard-fought win for the home side, bringing despair to Lightning, who gave so much and only got a point to show for their efforts.