WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Sunday 18th November 2018
Nottingham
Lions vs. Billingham Stars
Fixture:
Nottingham
Lions vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 18th November 2018
Venue: National Ice Centre
Faceoff: 5:45pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Having
already faced tenth-placed Nottingham Lions twice this season, both at home and
on the road, Billingham Stars will aim for a third victory over Matt Bradbury’s
men when they visit the National Ice Centre on Sunday. In September’s 6-2 win over
the Lions, the Stars went five goals ahead of their opposition as
Captain Michael Elder, Alternate Captain Chris Sykes and blue liner Ben Davison
fired themselves onto the scoresheet. Retaliating, Nottingham clawed two goals
back in the third period through forwards Ruskin Hughes and Thomas Parkinson
before Elder completed his hat trick with less than four minutes remaining.
Following this victory with an 8-4 win on home ice at the beginning of October,
Billingham were surprised when their visitors took the lead through Hughes who,
achieving a hat trick further to assisting Cameron Pywell’s goal, kept the
Teessiders on their toes throughout the game. Though Billingham have the advantage of knowing that they can claim points from the Lions, both teams head into this
encounter on the back of losing their last five league games. However, as Nottingham's performances have considerably improved of late, the Stars could be in for a
difficult contest. Just six points separate the two teams at present, with the Lions situated at the foot of the table and Billingham only narrowly
ahead after achieving a win against Solihull Barons further to their victories over Bradbury’s men.
Set
to shine on Sunday will be the sides’ top points scorers. Whilst
Sykes continues to dominate in front of goal for his team, having achieved 8
goals and 9 assists in 11 league games, Hughes has been a
standout forward for Nottingham, recording 12 goals and 2 assists in 13 league
fixtures to date. Only Pywell comes close to challenging Hughes
for the position of top points scorer; the Lion contributing 2 goals and 11
assists so far this campaign whilst nineteen-year-old forward Harry
Hopkins has also proved impressive, averaging a point per game with 3 goals and 1 assist in the four games he has played this season. By
comparison, Sykes’ competition consists of forward James Moss, Canadian Kevin Boyd
and Captain Elder who have collectively accumulated 31 points so far this
season and will therefore combine their efforts with that of their Alternate Captain on Sunday to trouble Nottingham’s defence.
With
every point making a difference due to the closely competitive nature of the
league, both sides will seek out a victory, with Billingham aiming to narrow the gap between themselves and eighth-placed Sutton Sting whilst the Lions target maximum points in their quest for their first win of their 2018-19 campaign. With both sides prepared to battle it out to improve
on their recent form, this game promises to be another captivating clash
between two tough teams.
For more photos from
IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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