It was perhaps tighter than they’d have liked, but Manchester stayed in the final playoff place thanks to a home win by the odd goal in eleven at the Storm Shelter.

The Storm were in control early as both teams tried to get a win on the board for the weekend – Dane Byers put the hosts ahead just 64 seconds in, and Dallas Ehrhardt make it two at 12:17 to give them a healthy lead. MK though weren’t going away though, and in a common theme of the night pulled a goal back – on this occasion, it was Robbie Baillargeon with 44 seconds left in the period.

Ciaran Long got the lone goal of the middle period before a goal rush came in the third. It started 5:01 into the final session, Ivan Sijan the scorer for MK. Logan McMillan responded for the Storm as he poked home a rebound at the top of the crease with 46:10 gone, before a powerplay slapshot from Ehrhardt made it 5-2 with a little over 11 minutes to go.

Sijan brought it back to a two goal deficit with his second at 52:07, although McMillan cancelled it out with the Storm’s final goal of the night 91 seconds after. MK’s fightback continued however, with Michael Fine tapping in at the far post at 58:03, before Nelson Armstrong forced the puck over the line from close range with 35 seconds to play with the goalie pulled. That set up the chance for the Lightning to tie it, but some sensible work in their own zone from the Storm kept the puck along the boards to see out the win