Hull Seahawks edge out Leeds Knights in derby thriller to close gap on NIHL National leading pack

Given the frustrating way the season had transpired up until a month ago, such thoughts would have been rejected by many, but having extended their winning streak to six games and with results in recent days having also gone their way, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Hull could finish as regular season runners-up.

With 10 games remaining, leaders Swindon Wildcats are 16 points ahead of Hull having snapped a three-game losing streak with victory at Bristol Pitbulls on Wednesday night.

Hull sit fifth, four points back of third-placed Leeds, who they face again on Friday night at Elland Road. Sheffield Steeldogs, currently second in the standings and who visit East Yorkshire on March 1, are five points ahead of Hull having seen their losing streak extended to five games with a 4-2 defeat at home to Telford Tigers on Tuesday.

For Seahawks head coach Matty Davies, where in the top eight his team finishes is largely irrelevant – the focus has long been on the post-season and making sure his team secure a first visit to Coventry’s SkyDome Arena for the Final Four Weekend.

Derby clashes between Hull and Leeds are rarely tame affairs and, as expected, the game started at a frenetic pace, the Seahawks being handed an early power play opportunity when former import favourite Owen Sobchak was sent to the box on a delay of game call.

Emil Svec came closest on the man advantage, while Bailey Perre went just as close at the other end when Leeds were back to full strength.

Another power play produced the first goal of the game, but not at the end most would have expected.

Balint Pakozdi broke play up on the edge of the Leeds zone, the puck breaking for Liam Peyton who then released his team-mate to drive towards net down centre ice before he fired home low to Aleksanteri Heiskanen’s right at 4.03.

It was another special teams goal that saw Leeds double their lead soon after, Svec penalised for tripping before the visitors took just eight seconds to make their mark, Sobchak combining with Matt Bissonnette who, from behind the net found Peyton alone in front to score at 5.44.

Peyton was denied a second in the ninth minute when Heiskanen spread himself to deny the Canadian when one-on-one. Hewitt blasted over from eight yards out at the other end while Heiskanen denied Bissonnette from converting a neat three-man move involving Sobchak and Kieran Brown in the 11th minute.

The end-to-end nature of a fiercely-competitive derby continued and Hull got rewarded for the part they were playing when Svec was allowed too much time to round the net and then pick his spot high to Gospel’s left to make it 2-1 at 15.13.

The second period saw the game settle down somewhat with chances harder to come by, Bobby Chamberlain was the first to go close, just before the halfway mark, first blasting over from the bottom of the right circle and then denied at point blank range by Gospel just a few seconds later.

Leeds - already missing forwards Innes Gallacher and Fin Bradon, along with defenceman Jonas Bennett - suffered another injury blow when Kurts Baumanis was forced off after taking a hit from Josh Hodgkinson into the visitors’ bench.

The hosts were forced to kill off an interference call on Lee Haywood and got momentum from it soon after to draw level.

Lee Bonner gathered the puck in the neutral zone before driving down the centre, his first effort was saved by Gospel but fellow forward Jack Musil reacted quickest to force the rebound home at 31.48.

Richard Hartmann then tried his luck from a tight angle at the bottom of the right circle but his backhand effort was comfortably dealt with by Gospel. At the other end, Brown couldn’t find a way past Heiskanen from the left circle in the 37th minute.

It continued to be end to end although clearer chances were harder to come by and when they did, both goalies were equal to it.

Gospel made a full length right pad stretch save to deny Stallard in the 46th minute while Heiskanen was solid at the other end to save from Peyton and Oli Endicott.

Three-on-three overtime brought no let-up, Tommy Spraggon the first to test Gospel before a 2-on-1 breakaway driven by Ethan Hehir saw him feed Jason Hewitt at the back post only for Gospel to somehow get across the puck out.

Another 2-on-1 saw Gospel frustrate Stallard and with just a handful of seconds remaining Dunn fired over from close range before Sobchak was denied by Heiskanen.

The lottery of the shootout beckoned with only Svec and Sobchak successful before sudden death.

Svec scored for a second time and when Heiskanen denied Danny Harrison at the other end, the home crowd erupted to celebrate a thrilling derby win. It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the visitors, however, the point gained seeing them join the Swindon and Sheffield in qualifying for the post-season.