NIHL North

NIHL Weekend Round-up

Billingham Stars suffered a 5-1 road defeat to Sutton Sting on Saturday to remain in eighth place with six points from eight league fixtures. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Taking to the ice with a short bench of fourteen skaters, the Stars immediately found themselves challenged by Simon Butterworth’s twenty-man squad as the Sting went ahead in the contest with just 1:32 played; defenceman Jordan Griffin beating netminder James Flavell with support from forward Dominic Martin and Captain Scott Morris. Troubled by Sutton, the Stars found few opportunities to challenge shot stopper Warren Gilfoyle before incurring the first penalty of the game when blue liner Ben Davison was sinbinned for a slashing offence. Though unable to capitalise on this power play, Sutton doubled their lead thirty five seconds after Davison’s return to the ice when Morris netted following quick work from Martin and young forward Joseph Colton. Billingham were then awarded a power play on 19:13 when Sting’s Alternate Captain Craig Elliot was shown to the sin bin for tripping. Failing to capitalise, the Teessiders were punished when Elliot returned to the ice thirty eight seconds later to assist Slovakian Stanislav Lašček alongside defenceman Craig Wallis. A tripping call against Stars’ Captain Michael Elder then saw Sutton fritter away their second power play but the side added to the scoreboard again on 31:06 when versatile left winger Ryan Johnson achieved his fifth goal of the season; Elliot teaming up with Lašček for a second time to make a positive impact. The score line 4-0, Billingham replaced netminder Flavell with backup Mark Watson but Sutton scored a fifth just seventy five seconds after this switch, Lašček on target for a second time as Elliot linked up with Johnson to achieve his third assist of the game. Matters were made worse for Billingham when blue liner Darren Stattersfield sat out for interference just over two minutes later but, killing this penalty, the Stars then gained a power play when Griffin was punished for crosschecking on 37:36. Thirty one seconds before Griffin’s return to the ice, Sutton lost Elliot to the sin bin following a holding sticks offence. Momentum gallowed Elder to grab a goal for the Stars after building momentum early in the final stanza but it proved to be little more than a consolation, the scoreboard reading 5-1 when the final buzzer sounded.

Meanwhile, the weekend was a positive one for Solway Sharks who were able to achieve a 3-2 overtime victory over Whitley Warriors to keep pace with Sheffield Steeldogs at the top of the table.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Finding themselves up against Whitley’s strong line-up, the Sharks were made to pay for their failed attempts when Warrior DJ Good surpassed netminder Kyle Johnston on 6:11 following creative play from skilled left winger Ben Campbell. Though continuing to trouble Solway in this opening period, the Warriors lost Good to the sin bin on 16:52 to hand the home team a power play. However, maintaining Whitley’s offensive threat whilst on the penalty kill, Campbell reaped the rewards of his hard work with a shorthanded goal to present his team with a 2-0 lead before the first interval. During a goalless second period, Whitley’s defenceman Ross Connolly picked up 2+2 for crosschecking and interference fifty seven seconds into the middle stanza whilst Canadian Phil Edgar sat out for delaying the game on 30:20 to allow Solway the additional skater on two occasions but, struggling to beat shot stopper Richie Lawson, the Sharks headed in at the break on the wrong end of the 2-0 score line once again. Determined to alter their fortunes in the third stanza, the Dumfries outfit made a strong start when youngster Lewis Houston halved his team’s deficit after skilled play from fellow forwards Joe Coulter and Iain Bowie on 41:38. Beginning to test Lawson on a more regular basis, it was clear that the Sharks were growing into the game so it was little surprise when the side equalised with less than five minutes remaining, this time Captain Struan Tonnar finding Bowie who executed perfectly to push the game into overtime. With play even after the sixty-minute mark, Canadian Cale Tanaka pounced on Whitley’s stray pass on 63:13 to find forward Rick Bentham who fired home to secure maximum points for his side.

Speaking after this game, Head Coach Martin Grubb kindly shared his thoughts on the contest: “We knew this would be a difficult game and I thought Whitley started better than us and took their chances that came when were wasteful, especially on the power play. We started getting better near the end of the second but we had to make some changes to our systems in the third and the players stayed patient and executed to ensure we found a way to win. We needed to show some real character against a good team and I told the players we had to make sure we found a way to get the points and credit to the boys for sticking with the process.”

Achieving a point from this overtime loss, Whitley then accomplished their first home victory of the season on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Solihull Barons to earn themselves a three-point weekend.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

When a crosschecking penalty for Phil Edgar presented the Barons with a power play early in the first period, Solihull capitalised eighteen seconds before Whitley returned to full strength, forward Matthew Maurice slotting home following a neat pass from Slovakian Filip Supa. Killing David Longstaff’s interference penalty shortly after this goal, the Warriors began to gain momentum to test netminder Sam Hewitt but, despite their many attempts, Whitley failed to level the score line before the first interval. As both teams ran into penalty trouble early in the middle stanza, the Warriors were only able to find the net on 36:57 when Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns hit a low blue line shot to Hewitt’s left to make it 1-1. Unable to respond to this, the Barons began to let their frustrations show and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Solihull’s Alternate Captain Marcus Maynard on 40:00 presented Whitley with the power play they needed to double their lead, this time Gritāns assisting Alternate Captain Sam Zajac who flicked the puck into the net with just thirty three seconds of the third period played. With the Warriors relentless in offence, the Barons opted for a timeout on 49:53 and returned to the ice with renewed vigour to place Whitley under pressure, though the home team continued to persevere in their quest to gain a two-goal lead. With time beginning to run out, Hewitt joined his team on the bench in place of an additional skater as Solihull sought to take the game into overtime. Despite this, the Barons were met with some frantic defending from the Warriors who eventually achieved the third goal they had been searching for when Zajac played the puck to Campbell who fired into the empty net to put the final result beyond doubt.

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