Leeds Knights endure mixed fortunes against Peterborough Phantoms
LEEDS KNIGHTS may have got their season up and running with their first win of the campaign at home to Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday night - but they came crashing back down when losing to the same opponents on the road 24 hours later.
A 3-1 defeat at Peterborough on Sunday night leaves the Knights eighth in the early NIHL National regular season standings after four games and with three points to their name.
Their next opponent is at Elland Road Ice Arena on Saturday when they take on leaders Milton Keynes Lightning - the only team remaining with a 100 per cent record.
Heading down the A1 the day after a dominant 9-2 win on Saturday in front of their own fans, the Knights will have rightly been in confident mood.
With defenceman Sam Cooper restored to the line-up they had three pairs of defencemen, but were still missing forwards Finn Bradon, Innes Gallacher and Danny Harrison, as well as D-man Jordan Griffin.
Peterborough were never likely to be as porous as the previous night and so it proved, the first period coming to a close with no goals scored.
Less than four minutes into the second period, though, the deadlock was broken when Luke Ferrara - scorer of the Phantoms’ second goal on Saturday - beat Sam Gospel.
Less than three minutes later, with Liam Peyton in the box on a hooking call, the Phantoms doubled their lead with a power play strike from Adam Berg.
But the Knights were back in the game before the end of the period when Owen Sobchak - scorer of four goals the previous night - made it five for the weekend at 39.06.
A key moment arrived in the third when Cullen McLean saw his night ended early when he was handed a 10-minute major for embellishment and, as the Knights chased the game in the closing minutes, Peterborough made the points safe with a short-handed strike from Dominik Gabaj.