NIHL National Play-offs: Post-season openers done for Leeds Knights, Hull Seahawks and Sheffield Steeldogs

Pushed all the way into overtime before winning 4-3 at Telford Tigers on Saturday, the Knights enjoyed a more comfortable evening 24 hours later on home ice when they ran out comfortable 9-2 winners.

Hull Seahawks split their opening weekend of the post-season with Peterborough Phantoms - winning 3-2 at home before going down 6-2 on the road - while Sheffield Steeldogs have plenty of work to do after losing both their games to Swindon Wildcats.

The Knights got off to a bumpy start on home ice after going behind with just 65 seconds on the clock when Eric Henderson capitalised on a mistake by Sam Gospel to score while the Tigers were shorthanded.

Thereafter, though, the result was in little doubt, the Knights taking a 3-1 lead into the first break through two goals in the space of eight eighth-minute seconds of each other by Matt Barron and a power play marker by Mac Howlett at 14.15.

Telford bounced back in the second and made it a one-goal game through another short-handed strike, this time David Thomson pouncing just before the halfway mark.

But the Knights were quick to restore their two-goal cushion just 21 seconds later at 30.07 through Noah McMullin’spower play strike, Jordan Buesa making it 5-2 less than two minutes later.

Any doubts there may have been as to the outcome in the third were put to one side when Howlett and Buesa both doubled their tallies while there was still more than 10 minutes remaining.

Barron completed his hat-trick in the 52nd minute before Fonley Bradon was rewarded for another impressive display when he scored on the power play at 55.02.

Having got their post-season campaign off to a winning start, there was no four-point weekend for the Seahawks.

A frantic opening seven minutes brought five goals, the Seahawks the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline after strikes from Alex Kent and Owen Bruton were cancelled out by a double from former Seahawks’ centre Nathan Salem, adding to Janne Laakkonen’s opener for the Phantoms after just 51 seconds.

That is how it remained until the second when the hosts pulled further away with Richard Hartmann’s 25th-minute effort and a power play marker from Luke Ferrara at 35.29.

Hull couldn’t find a way back into the game, their hopes of doing so fully extinguished when Austin Mitchell-King made it 6-2 inside the last two minutes.

Sheffield Steeldogs found themselves under the cosh early on at home to Swindon Wildcats as they tried to even the score following the previous night’s 4-2 loss in Wiltshire.

Ben Morgan’s side went into the first intermission trailing 3-0 after goals from Glenn Billing (2) and Jack Bricknell.

But the hosts hauled themselves back into the game in the second with two goals in as many minutes from import forwards Walker Sommer and Elmeri Hällfors.

But only 51 seconds had passed before Swindon got themselves a two-goal cushion through Balint Pakozdi at 27.39.

It was a gap that proved too big to bridge for the Steeldogs, even though Ivan Björkly-Nordström gave them hope when he made it a one-goal with a power play marker at 55.03.

It was as close as the Steeldogs got, placing greater emphasis on next weekend’s double-header against Romford Raiders, who visit Ice Sheffield on Friday (face-off 7.30pm).