NIHL North

NIHL Weekend Round-up

Billingham Stars suffered a 6-2 defeat to unbeaten league leaders Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson     

Falling behind with less than six minutes played after Steeldog Duncan Speirs spun the puck into the net, the Stars suffered a further setback when blue liner Andy Finn was sinbinned for holding sticks. Though the Teessiders worked hard to hinder Sheffield’s scoring opportunities on the power play, the Steeldogs doubled their lead just six seconds after Finn’s return to the ice; this time left winger Andrew Hirst beating netminder James Flavell with support from Slovakian Adrian Palak and stand-in Captain Tim Smith. Sheffield then lost Brownley to the sin bin for tripping on 11:53 but Billingham could not make the most of this power play, though Smith was sidelined for crosschecking with twenty nine seconds of Brownley’s penalty remaining. Returning to full strength, the Steeldogs continued to test Flavell and added a third to their tally when Alternate Captain Ashley Calvert scrambled the puck into the net courtesy of Nathan Salem on 18:18. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Heading into the second period with a 3-0 lead, it was not long before Flavell was picking the puck from his net for a fourth time as Slovakian Milan Kolena played a neat pass to Calvert who notched his second of the contest just under seven minutes into the period. Though Billingham had several chances to punish shot stopper Brandon Stones at the other end of the ice, the Steeldogs executed far better when Calvert pounced on Thomas Barry’s rebounded blue line shot to achieve his hat trick just past the midpoint of the period. Spurred into action as a result of this goal, Stars’ Alternate Captain Chris Sykes responded with an unassisted effort to make it 5-1 but, just over a minute later, Calvert netted his fourth of the contest as Salem worked with Relf to assist. Billingham’s frustrations beginning to show, ‘D’ man Darren Stattersfield took out Calvert who retaliated. Respectively, the Star earned 2+10 for boarding whilst the Steeldog picked up a two-minute roughing penalty. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon

The score line 6-1 going into the third stanza, the Steeldogs took to the ice in full control of the game, racking up eighteen shots against Flavell to the seven shots that the Stars had on Stones’ net. Despite this, Billingham were offered a glimmer of hope when Sheffield gave away the puck, allowing Sykes to swiftly bag himself a brace which completed the scoring on 56:43 before the Steeldogs’ 6-2 victory was confirmed on the final buzzer.

Meanwhile, Whitley Warriors battled with league leaders Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday to record a respectable 2-1 defeat to Ben Morgan’s team. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

After the Warriors piled the pressure onto Sheffield’s shot stopper Dmitri Zimozdra in a goalless first period, play switched rapidly between zones in the middle stanza which ended with a penalty of 2+10 for Captain Dean Holland who avenged an unpunished holding offence against line mate Ben Campbell with a check from behind on 39:35. Though killing this penalty early in the third period, the Warriors conceded just thirty five seconds later when Slovakian winger Adrian Palak raced into Whitley’s defensive zone to eventually drive the puck past netminder Richie Lawson after an attempted wraparound. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Working hard to hit back, the Warriors equalised just after the halfway point in the period when Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns deflected a pass off the boards to find left winger Ben Campbell who remained composed to make it 1-1. Following Alternate Captain Ashley Calvert’s unpunished hit on Canadian defenceman Phil Edgar, versatile forward Ryan Sample served up his own justice by clipping Sheffield’s Captain Lewis Bell. This allowed the Steeldogs a successful power play as forward Duncan Speirs buried a superb shot to send his side back into the lead. A bench minor for Whitley was then closely followed by an interference penalty for Edgar on 59:15 and forward Shaun Kippin also earned himself a ten-minute misconduct penalty for venting his feelings in the process. Unwilling to give up on an equaliser, Whitley called a timeout with twelve seconds remaining but, despite a flash of offensive work in the dying moments of the game, the score line remained 2-1 to see the Warriors stay in sixth place with ten points from fourteen league games whilst Sheffield moved two points ahead of Solway Sharks at the top of the league standings. 

Last but not least, Solway Sharks achieved a narrow 4-3 win over Solihull Barons on Sunday evening. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The deadlock broken on 5:46 when Slovakian forward Filip Supa surpassed the Sharks’ defence with support from versatile defenceman Dave Rogers and forward Elliot Farrell, Solway managed to respond with an equaliser less than five minutes later as youngster Lewis Houston printed his name on the scoresheet with support from Rick Bentham to make it 1-1. Subsequently presented with two consecutive power play opportunities, the Sharks were unable to achieve the lead with the advantage and then returned to the ice for the second period with a will to fire themselves ahead.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Although Solway’s blue liner Liam Stenton incurred a hooking penalty early in the middle stanza, the Sharks kept their objective in mind and rallied to minimise the impact of Solihull’s power play before beating netminder Sam Hewitt just twenty seconds after returning to full strength; Bentham the man on target following hard work from Alternate Captain Ross Murray and Houston. However, Solway’s lead lasted all of fifty six seconds as Supa provided an equaliser for the Barons, this time Farrell assisting alongside Alternate Captain Marcus Maynard. A delayed slashing call against Rogers on 32:26 allowed Solway to scramble ahead of their opposition when Slovakian forward Peter Gápa added a third to their tally but, just over a minute later, the Baron was sinbinned for roughing alongside Sharks’ blue liner Josh Grieveson.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The score line 3-2 heading into the third period, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Solihull’s forward Macaulay Halford on 41:00 allowed Martin Grubb’s men to gain momentum which they capitalised on shortly after the Baron’s return when Iain Bowie netted courtesy of Gápa and fellow forward Joe Coulter. A check to the head from Solway’s Mac Howlett caused Rogers to clash with the young forward to see both punished for roughing whilst Howlett also received 2+10 for his original offence. Making the most of their power play, forward Adam Brittle brought his team within a goal of the opposition but, with several minor penalties hindering their ability to find the net, the Barons found that they could not draw level to take the game into overtime, allowing Solway to see out their narrow 4-3 victory.

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