Leeds Knights struck down as leaders Milton Keynes Lightning inflict biggest-ever home loss

It marked the heaviest ever defeat in the Knights’ history - narrowly eclipsing the 8-3 reverse to Romford Raiders last season - and extended their slow start to the season.

Heading down to Romford on Sunday, the Knights had won just one of their five opening games - last weekend’s 9-2 win over Peterborough Phantoms, with the only other point gained coming in a 2-1 overtime defeat at Milton Keynes on the opening weekend.

It is still early days and there is plenty of time to turn things around, but Aldridge said some of his players needed to produce better.

“I thought we had a good start,” said Aldriddge, whose team went 1-0 ahead after six minutes through Liam Peyton. “I thought we played ‘us’ for the first period and then we came out the second period and fell apart. We didn't compete in front of the net, we lost our guys, we didn't compete on the back-check.

“Watching the goals back in the period break, there was some interesting stuff.

“We fell apart in Peterborough last week and fell apart again here. Some people aren't contributing enough. We need everybody to be on board for us to win hockey games.

“We can't have two or three guys taking the night off, but I feel that’s what we're getting right now.”

After Peyton’s opener, Liam Stewart levelled for the Lightning with a shorthanded strike at 14.27.

David Thomson put the visitors ahead at 24.14, but parity was restored just 19 seconds later when Peyton redirected the puck home following good approach work by Owen Sobchak.

But three goals in just over five minutes either side of the halfway mark - two from Sean Norris and one from Danny Weight - put the Lightning in control, Thomson’s second at 38.25 giving the Knights an even bigger mountain to climb.

It was one they never came close to scaling, Thomson making it a four-goal night to extend the Lightning’s 100 per cent start to the season.