After the great win in Slough saturday night, the Phoenix faced Guildford in the sunday night valentines day fixture at the Ice Dome. Some on the Phoenix forum were calling this the make or break for the Phoenix title chances. To be honest I thought those died a while ago, but to stay in the hunt and get a good playoff position its games like these the Phoenix need to win. It would be a tough game, as Guildford are a quality side, and lets face it, they do have 7 or so imports on the books!
First Period: Off we go, and what an amazing advert for EPL hockey, I know those words have been mentioned on this blog before but it really was. Two top sides in full flowing hockey, it was a thing of beauty to watch! Anyway sadly it was Guildford who lit the lamp first. After 12min 54sec Tom Duggan scoring from Lubomir Hurtaj. Thankfully the Phoenix brought themselves level just about 5 minutes later. Stephen Wallace scoring after 17min 49sec.
Second Period: Well what a difference an interval can make! The Flames began to dominate the game in the second period and the Phoenix started to find scoring opportunities hard to come by! The Flames raced to a 3-1 lead, scoring next at 22min 18sec through Lubomir Hurtaj and then at 24min 16sec through Nathan Rempel. The Phoenix a bit shell shocked called a time out which managed to stem the tide a little. The Phoenix even managing to pull a goal back after 33min 47sec through Ed Courtenay. It should be mentioned that Guildford's third goal came due to the apparent lack of effort from Courtenay, so just as well he made up for it! Sadly the Flames more or less ended the game by scoring the last goal of the period, to make the scores 4-2. Martin Masa scoring after 36min 45sec.
Third Period: With the game effectively gone it was left for the Phoenix to salvage some pride. Sadly their play did not help, in another pretty poor period the Flames buried the Phoenix. Stuart Potts scoring the Flames 5th of the game after 46min 12sec. The game finished with the Flames netting again to make it 6-2 after 52min 36sec.
Verdict: In the end a poor show from the Phoenix, which was a real shame after a great and dominating performance in Slough the previous night. Alot will be made about the lack of effort shown from Ed Courtenay, however that is something we have to live with, as he does often pull out some real class moves! More worryingly for me, and other Phoenix fan's by the sounds of things is Tony Hand's reluctance to give Ben Wood ice time. This is terrible as their is no player on the Phoenix bench who work's his nuts off more. The lad works hard every shift, skates well and finishes every check he makes! Come on Tony, play the lad!!
Attendance: Apparently another Rock Radio promotion for last nights game, mean a delayed face off due to crowds! Rock Radio are a great sponsor to have, as it seems they really work hard for the Phoenix. Ill say a crowd of 1,400 in the Ice Dome.
Phoenix TV Highlights:
Phoenix Weekend Results - Phoenix Official
Phoenix 2 Guildford 6 - MEN Article
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