Sheffield Steeldogs and Leeds Knights lose ground on NIHL National title favourites as Hull Seahawks boost top-four hopes
SWINDON WILDCATS were the only real winners this weekend as their only two realistic rivals for the NIHL National league title - Sheffield Steeldogs and Leeds Knights - both dropped points.
Aaron Nell’s team posted a four-point weekend by following up Friday’s 7-6 overtime win in Basingstoke with a rather more comfortable 6-1 triumph at home to Hull Seahawks on Saturday - the same night that Leeds were slipping to a 5-1 defeat on the road at Milton Keynes Lightning.
The Knights bounced back spectacularly with a come-from-behind 7-5 win over the Lightning on home ice the following night, but the Steeldogs - 6-1 winners over Peterborough Phantoms at Ice Sheffield on Saturday - couldn’t repeat that when they went down 7-4 in the return clash at Mallard Road.
It leaves the Wildcats seven points clear of the Steeldogs with two games in hand. Third-placed Leeds are 13 points adrift of the leaders with a game in hand. The two meet in Swindon this Friday.
The Yorkshire teams need to do each other a favour if either is to stop Swindon.
In three meetings this season, the Steeldogs have lost every time to the Wildcats. They face each other twice more - in Sheffield on February 28 and in Swindon on March 21 - by which time the title could already be in the hands of the Wiltshire club.
Leeds have three regular season meetings with Swindon to come, the first being this Friday when defeat could probably end any lingering hopes they may have of closing a points gap that has shown little sign of reducing.
Leeds looked like they were heading for a pointless weekend back on home ice on Sunday when they trailed the Lightning 5-4 with just over six minutes remaining.
But goals from Owen Sobchak and Liam Peyton, together with a long-range empty-netter from Matt Bissonnette completed a remarkable turnaround to just about keep them in the title frame.
The Steeldogs rightly went into Sunday’s return game in Peterborough in a confident mood, the previous night’s win having extended their winning streak to four games.
But the hosts - no doubt also still smarting from their second leg capitulation in the National Cup semi-final to the Steeldogs - were in determined mood, firing themselves into a 5-0 lead inside 21 minutes through goals from Dillon Lawrence, Louie Kynaston, Ralf Circenis, Cameron Hough and Janne Laakkonen.
The Steeldogs rallied with second period strikes from Bair Gendunov and Nathan Ripley and got home fans twitching when CJ Garcia made it 5-3 at 43.44.
But, crucially, the next goal came at the other end when Circenis doubled his tally in the 51st minute.
Kyle Watson offered a glimmer of hope when he pulled one back on the power play with just over two minutes remaining but, with goalie Alex Oldale pulled, Hough made sure of the points with an empty-net strike.
Having struggled in Swindon the previous night, continued their recent see-saw mid-table duel with the Lightning when a 4-1 win at home to Basingstoke Bison saw them go back above their Buckinghamshire rivals into sixth spot.
A top-four finish to match their final position the past two seasons is now the aim for Matty Davies’ team and they helped that aim despite going behind to a 16th-minute opener from Bison’s William Stead.
Captain Bobby Chamberlain replied in the 23rd minute to ensure his team went in level at the second break, after which they took control.
Lee Bonner stepped up to score what proved to be the game-winning goal with his 12th of the season at 43.11 before 16-year-old Beau Reeder got his fifth goal in an impressive debut campaign to double the lead six minutes later.
For insurance purposes, Johnny Corneil made it 4-1 on the power play with just under four minutes remaining.
With 15 games remaining, Hull sit five points off fourth-placed Peterborough with the teams having to face each other twice more in the regular season - in Hull on March 7 and in Cambridgeshire the following weekend.