EPL: Phoenix complete 6 points in Long Weekend

MANCHESTER PHOENIX   4 - 3   SWINDON WILDCATS

Kovar,Archer,Hand,Bakrlik                                            Hoog, Nell 

Manchester Phoenix capped off a tough three games in 3 days on Sunday evening with victory over the Swindon Wildcats 4-3 at the Altrincham Ice dome and in doing so, completed a massive Six Point weekend.

The long weekend started for Manchester on Friday night, with a trip over the Pennines to face their bitter rivals in the Sheffield Steeldogs at Ice Sheffield. It was the hosts that took lead in that game, through former Phoenix player Ben Morgan as he opened the scoring till Michal Psurny drew level for Phoenix, until Andy Hirst then scored the go ahead goal in the contest to see the Yorkshire outfit go 2-1 after the Second period of play. Sheffield kept the lead till the 49th minute of the game, when another Czech forward scored for the visitors when Robin Kovar scored to make it 2-2 and see the game go up for grabs for the remaining 11 minutes. In the final stages of the game, it saw Manchester take victory with just 46 seconds remaining in the game, ironically it was a Yorkshireman that won the game for the Red rosed County with Captain of the Phoenix Luke Boothroyd scoring the game winner on the powerplay.

Saturday Night saw the Phoenix roll into Berkshire to come up against another stiff opponent in the Bracknell Bees, to whom the home side had beaten Phoenix on both occasions at the ‘Hive’ with the first being in a 3-2 shootout and the last visit ending up being a 8-2 massacre of the Manchester side. This game saw Manchester needing to win the game to keep up their momentum of late and also to keep on the tails of Basingstoke too. Much like the Sheffield game it was the hosts that scored first, as Shaun Thompson put the Bees ahead after 3 minutes of play that was till Frantisek Bakrlik made it 1-1 with fellow countryman Rob Schnabel blasting one home from the blue line to see the away side lead 2-1.  Bakrlik added his second of the game with another Czech player getting on the score sheet with Robin Kovar making it 4-1 for the visitors that was until the final 10 minutes of play, when Ben Wood made it five and Phoenix put the Bracknell curse to bed.

Sunday Evening saw Manchester trying to make it 3 wins from 3 after they had come through two games against the toughest and roughest sides in the EPL. Manchester started off brightly and had a couple of shots on Stevie Lyle in the Wildcats goals, but then Manchester then came under a bit of pressure when Swindon went on the powerplay after Joe Graham was called for Hooking call at 2-00 in the opening period. The home side then got back into their groove soon after with the 'Czech Connection' joining forces, when Robin Kovar put the Phoenix ahead during a powerplay that saw the Czech man prod home at the front of the net to score for a 1-0 lead at 9-16. It came after a Michal Psurny set up Frantisek Bakrlik and his initial shot was bundled in eventually by Robin Kovar to see the opener of the game and had Lyle not very happy at all.

James Archer then scored a beauty of a goal to make it 2-0 when the forward tipped it in at an angle from a Tony Hand pass saw it go past Lyle with Michal Psurny assisting on the goal coming at 12-14. Player-Coach Tony Hand then added a Third at 17-58, after a pass to Bakrlik outside the zone by Hand saw the Czech forward fire on net and saw Lyle stop the first shot and then a rebound by James Archer and with Lyle unable to make another save Tony Hand followed it up to score and see the home side go 3-0 and almost have the game sewn up early on. 

The Home side looked more fresher while than that of their opponents as they look more lethargic and slow paced than that of the hosts. The Wiltshire side almost seemed stunned by the quickness of the second and third goals being score that and was something that seemed to kill the game off. Both sides then had a player go the box, after Henri Sandvik pull an terrible looking check from behind on Luke Boothroyd and with players pushing and shoving each other, Boothroyd shown his displeasure as he went after Sandvik over the check and they had a little set-two and saw it end as quickly as it started.

Penalties resulted in Luke Boothroyd picking up a 2+2 for Roughing and a further two minute penalty for a bizarre Instigating penalty, meanwhile the Swindon man picked up just a 2 minute penalty for Boarding and then 2+2 for Roughing all at timed at 19-09.

In the Second period Manchester carried on their momentum and seemed to play it conservatively, as their opponents was struggling to create anything of note in the game, with the Phoenix well and truly on form and showing the two previous wins had boosted their confidence no end.  James Archer was then penalised for Goaltender Interference, despite the Swindon Defenseman pushing the forward into the goalie and was still pinning him down on Lyle after the whistle had blown too. From that penalty the Cats got on the scoreboard through Swindon`s Swedish forward Jonas Hoog as Aaron Nell and Aku Pekkarinen picked up assists on the goal to make it 3-1 at 28-24.  With the end fast approaching, Swindon had one last effort and saw Steve Fone deny Swindon a goal, when the netminder looked certain to be beaten as the puck went across the zone and saw Fone literally get a toe to the puck and stop the shot from going in.

Third period wise Phoenix began to show signs of tiredness as it was always going to catch up with them eventually, especially when playing three games in three days as it would take it`s toll on any side. Manchester never seemed to be in too much danger in the match and when Frantisek Bakrlik shot took a deflection that deceived Lyle to make it 4-1 at 52-44 it seemed game, set and match. They had looked to have all but condemned Swindon to a defeat and seen them outplayed, that was till Swindon launched a late comeback in the game. When Joe Graham failed to clear his lines and saw Ryan Watt pass towards Aaron Nell and his shot beat Steve Fone, to which the Manchester netminder was slightly screen for the goal and seen Swindon reduced the game down to a two goal deficit at 55-29. Swindon Wildcats coach Ryan Aldridge then called a time out with 1-07 left in the game while they had a powerplay, as Robin Kovar was currently serving a Delay Of Game penalty at the time and seen them pull Stevie Lyle for the two man advantage.

From the face off Swindon pressed the hosts and a shot fired at Fone from side on by Aaron Nell seen it managed to squeeze it`s way through and find it`s way in the back of net for a Wildcats goal and saw the remaining minute become a tense and nervy one for the Phoenix as they led 4-3. Phoenix tried a couple of attempts at shooting at an empty net with Swindon having no one in between the pipes due to the extra attacker for the remaining 56 seconds of the game, but credit to Swindon they battled in the game and made it tense finale in the the end for Manchester, but Phoenix just held on for the win to see them complete a rare 6 point weekend and boost their chances in the title run-in with Basingstoke. 

English Premier League		GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Basingstoke Bison	49	29	5	2	13	192	142	70
2	Manchester Phoenix	47	30	4	2	11	205	133	70
3	Guildford Flames	50	25	4	5	16	196	161	63
4	Milton Keynes Lightning	48	21	6	3	18	182	167	57
5	Telford Tigers	48	22	3	0	23	167	162	50
6	Swindon Wildcats	47	16	6	2	23	163	163	46
7	Sheffield Steeldogs	50	17	2	8	23	178	209	46
8	Bracknell Bees	50	17	3	3	27	159	199	43
9	Peterborough Phantoms	49	16	0	8	25	163	207	40
10	Slough Jets	48	15	2	2	29	148	210	36

PHOENIX TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h99yFZDfjW4

PHOENIX PODCAST: http://manchesterphoenix.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/3-games-6-points.html