Phoenix edge Steeldogs in shoot-out

Manchester Phoenix 5-4 Sheffield Steeldogs (After penalty shots)

Winger Stephen Wallace returned to the Manchester Phoenix line up on Tuesday night and helped his side fight back against rivals Sheffield.

Wallace, back on the ice after suffering a broken wrist, scored the equalizing fourth goal for the home side as Phoenix recovered from a two goal deficit three times before winning the game in a shoot-out.

Steeldogs scored twice in the opening period through Ashley Calvert and Greg Wood for a 2-0 lead but Phoenix, still without leader Tony Hand, fought back in the second period.

First Martin Cingel cut the lead in the 23rd minute before Stuart Brittle restored the visitors two goal cushion. Phoenix’s Slava Koulikov and Brittle then traded goals within a five minute spell before goals from Ciaran Long and Wallace tied the game at 4-4.

The final period remained goalless despite a five minute power-play opportunity for Phoenix after Sheffield’s Pavel Gomeniuk was ejected for boarding Phoenix’s Josh Ward and neither team could find a winner in overtime.

Koulikov and Juraj Faith scored their penalty shots against Ben Bowns in the Sheffield net whilst only Greg Wood could beat Steve Fone in the home goal and Phoenix took the extra point.

Hand said after the game, “We kept our heads up tonight, we battled back when things looked bleak and we got the win we deserved. That shows the character we have in this locker room.

“The guys are fighting back and the confidence is growing.”

Cingel hat-trick lifts Phoenix past Lightning

Manchester Phoenix 4-2 Milton Keynes Lightning

Martin Cingel fired in a treble for Manchester Phoenix against Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday night and secured a Cup semi final place in the process.

Phoenix, who were thrashed 9-0 on Saturday by Slough Jets, bounced back with an impressive performance against a strong Lightning team who have already beaten Tony Hand’s side 5-2 earlier in the season.

Ciaran Long opened the scoring for the home side in the 7th minute when he connected with a Tom Duggan pass whilst crashing the net which left Lightning netminder Alex Mettam little chance.

Cingel doubled Phoenix’s lead before the first break, but the Lightning cut the deficit early in the second period with a Leigh Jamieson power-play goal.

Jamieson then netted the equalizer, again on the power-play in the 46th minute setting up a tense final ten minutes. But with Phoenix needing nothing less than a win to secure a Cup semi final place, Cingel struck twice in five minutes.

The first came from an impossible angle, banking the puck off the inside of Mettam’s leg from the left boards whilst his hat trick goal was worked from behind the net with Phoenix debutant James Spurr.

Player coach Tony Hand said: “I’m proud of the guys, and it’s nice to go into Christmas on the back of a thrilling win.

“I’m delighted for the fans that have stuck by us, cheered us on through thick and thin. This was a huge performance and it was for them.”

Phoenix torched early; fightback falls short against Flames

Manchester Phoenix 3-5 Guildford Flames

A third period barrage by Manchester Phoenix was not enough to earn any points against the league leaders Guildford Flames as they went down 5-3 on Saturday.

Phoenix, struggling to find consistency during an injury hit campaign, trailed the Flames 4-2 going into the final period and fired 17 shots at Mark Lee in the visitors net but could only find the net once.

Guildford opened the scoring in the 11th minute against the run through Branislav Kvetan and they doubled their lead as Nathan Rempel skated in all alone and beat Steve Fone in the Manchester net.

Man of the match Tom Duggan cut the lead in half before the first break as his angled shot slid under the pads of Lee but former Phoenix favourite Curtis Huppe restored the two goal cushion for visitors early in the second period.

Rick Plant extended their lead to 4-1 before Phoenix started their fight back with a Martin Cingel powerplay goal in the 33rd minute.

Ciaron Long netted Phoenix’s third early in the final period and Tony Hand’s side spent the next 20 minutes looking for an equalizer but Lee in the Flames net held firm and Jez Lundin scored an empty net goal with 20 seconds left to seal the points for the visitors.

Phoenix player coach Hand said: “The guys played extremely well tonight, it was a fantastic team performance. We were the better side for long periods and we were very unlucky not to take something from the game.”

Phoenix still searching for perfect weekend

Manchester Phoenix 3-4 Basingstoke Bison

Reigning champions Manchester Phoenix are falling away from the title chasing pack after another home defeat to Basingstoke.

Phoenix now lie eight points adrift of Guildford Flames and Slough Jets at the top of the English Premier League as they continue to search for a perfect four point weekend.

With player coach Tony Hand and winger Steven Wallace still sidelined through injury, Phoenix came away from Bracknell on Saturday with a 6-2 win but they couldn’t close out the Bison on Sunday after leading 2-0.

Slava Koulikov and Martin Cingel gave the home side the early lead, but Bison hit back before the break through Victor Kubenko.

Kubenko netted a breakaway goal early in the middle period before ex-Phoenix forward Joe Miller rounded netminder Steve Fone and scored for a 3-2 Bison lead.

Ladislav Harabin equalized for Phoenix before the second interval with a superb solo goal but Bison captain Nicky Chinn struck the winner mid way through the third period.

Phoenix coach Tony Hand said: “The guys are disappointed at the way things went tonight. We played well enough to get more out of the game.”

Jets second period blitz sinks Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix 3-5 Slough Jets

Four unanswered second period goals from Slough Jets cost Manchester Phoenix dearly as a late fight-back turned out to be too little too late.

Phoenix, buoyed by an impressive 5-1 win away at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday, were five goals behind on Sunday before they came to life in the final period but they left themselves too much to do.

Jets’ Adam Calder gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the first break, but it was the second period blitz from the visitors that left Phoenix a mountain to climb.

Calder added his second before goals from Joe Greener, Doug Sheppard and Dan Davies saw the Jets out of sight in a horror middle period for home-side.

Tom Duggan finally got Phoenix on the board in the 45th minute on a five on three power-play before Jaroslav Spelda blasted in a second on the same advantage.

Slava Koulikov reduced the deficit further in the 49th minute but the comeback stopped there as Jets netminder Gregg Rockman stood firm with some stellar saves and the visitors deservedly took the points.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand said: “If you turn up for twenty minutes out of sixty, you’ll get punished, and that is exactly what happened.

“We can be encouraged by the third period performance, and there are some positives to take into next weekend, but we were the architects of our own downfall tonight.”

Faith leads Phoenix without Hand

Manchester Phoenix 4-1 Peterborough Phantoms

Injury hit Manchester Phoenix put in a resilient performance against Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday night, and they were rewarded with a 4-1 win.

With player coach Tony Hand, winger Stephen Wallace and import defence man Jaroslav Spelda all out of action, Juraj Faith took charge with a pair of assists and helped Phoenix to a valuable two points.

Phoenix, who lost 3-1 in Peterborough the previous night, took an early lead with a scrappy James Archer goal in the 5th minute and never looked back.

Slava Koulikov doubled the home sides lead in the 17th minute after good work from Faith and Martin Cingel sliced open the Phantoms defence.

Cingel made it 3-0 early in the second period after Faith broke free of the Phantoms defence to set up an odd man breakaway to leave the sniper with the easiest of finishes.

Tom Duggan added a fourth before Luke Ferrara scored a late consolation for the visitors breaking netminder Steve Fone’s shut-out hopes.

Hand said after the game: “That was a vital win for us. The guys played well, kept things tight and we stuck to our game.

“It’s been tough the last few weeks with injuries, but hopefully the light is at the end of the tunnel.”

Phoenix offence finally ignites at the Dome

Manchester Phoenix 1-4 Sheffield Steeldogs
Manchester Phoenix 9-5 Telford Tigers

Sniper Martin Cingel fired in a hat-trick to lead Manchester Phoenix to a convincing win over Telford Tigers on Saturday night.

Phoenix, who have suffered at home recently, have already been beaten by the Tigers this season in a penalty shoot-out but they looked to have finally found their scoring touch at home whilst wearing special Children in Need jerseys.

Further goals from Ladislav Harabin (2), James Archer, Ben Wood, Ciaran Long and Tom Duggan helped Phoenix on their way to their first home win in three games.

Player-coach Tony Hand said “It was a good performance by the team tonight and nice to see a lot of the lads get among the goals.

“Telford are a hard working side but I felt we definitely had the upper hand tonight and deserved the points.”

If was a different story on Thursday night however when they went down 4-1 against Sheffield with ex-Phoenix centre Greg Wood coming back to haunt his old team with a pair of goals.

Phoenix failed to capitalise on multiple chances whilst Sheffield were clinical when they needed to be in a game that highlighted again the reigning champions’ inability to find consistency.

Ladislav Harabin netted Phoenix’s only goal of the game on a 5 on 3 power-play late in the second period but pairs of goals from Wood and Janis Ozolins was enough to see the Yorkshire side take their first ever win over Phoenix.