On-fire Phoenix sink Lightning for 8 straight wins

Manchester Phoenix 6-3 Milton Keynes Lightning

A three goal blitz in the third period secured another two points and an eighth consecutive win for Manchester Phoenix on Sunday against Milton Keynes.

Phoenix, who shut-out Basingstoke 5-0 in Hampshire on Saturday, beat the Lightning for the third time in their current eight-game winning streak and Tom Duggan scored a double on his return to the line up.

Duggan opened the scoring early for Phoenix before Adam Carr quickly pulled the visitors level. Martin Cingel then set up Duggan for a shorthanded goal to give the home side the lead at the first interval.

Lightning came back strong in the second period and equalised through Juraj Gracik on the power-play before Juraj Faith and Grant McPherson traded goals to leave the teams tied at 3-3 going into the final period.

Phoenix broke the deadlock with the game winning goal in the 45th minute when Ben Wood fired a quick snap shot that trickled through the pads of Lightning netminder Alex Mettam and further goals from Jaroslav Spelda and Ladislav Harabin saw Phoenix out of sight.

Player coach Tony Hand said: “Games against the Lightning are never dull, and this was another superb evening’s entertainment for the fans.

“We are on fire right now, and this sets us up perfectly for two crunch games against Guildford Flames next weekend.”

Faith & Spelda keep Phoenix rolling

Slough Jets 2-4 Manchester Phoenix
Telford Tigers 5-8 Manchester Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix continued their hot start to the New Year with back to back road wins in Slough and Telford last weekend to take their streak to six games.

Still without player coach Tony Hand and Tom Duggan, Phoenix returned to Slough on Saturday where they were humiliated in a 9-0 thrashing a few weeks ago. But since then Phoenix have not lost and gained some revenge for the hammering with a 4-2 win.

Goals from Ciaran Long, Juraj Faith and Ryan Johnson gave Phoenix a 3-1 lead going into the third period and in spite of the Jets pulling a goal back, Jaroslav Spelda hit an empty net goal in the dying seconds to seal an important victory.

The following night in Telford, Spelda and Faith again led Phoenix to victory with two goals each whilst Martin Cingel also grabbed a pair.

Stephen Wallace and Long also scored for the visitors in the win which sees them rise to joint third with Slough and Sheffield in the English Premier League table.

Phoenix will now look to continue their winning form when they take on Basingstoke Bison away on Saturday before returning to Altrincham on Sunday to face the Milton Keynes Lightning.

Koulikov keeps Phoenix hot; nets OT winner.

Manchester Phoenix 3-2 Bracknell Bees (after overtime)

Slava Koulikov ensured Manchester Phoenix continued their recent winning run into 2012 by firing in an overtime winner to beat Bracknell.

Winger Koulikov fired in a rocket slap shot to beat Bracknell netminder Carl Ambler just seconds into the extra period after the Bees tied the game late on in the third period.

Phoenix have now won four straight games for the first time this season and are starting to find their feet after a bad run of injuries.

However it was the visiting Bees that opened the scoring in the middle period after a dull first, Scott Spearing beating Steve Fone in the Manchester net in the 21st minute.

Tony Hand’s side finally came to life just past the half hour mark with two goals in under four minutes turning the tie. Koulikov grabbed his first of the night before Jaroslav Spelda gave Phoenix the lead in the 37th minute.

But with time ticking down in the third period and the home side unable to add to their lead, Bracknell’s Lukas Smital struck sending the teams to overtime.

A late penalty on the visitors meant that Phoenix started the extra period with a power-play and Koulikov took full advantage and scored the winner for the extra point.

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.”