26 Dec 2023, 17:30 | Regular season | Altrincham Ice Dome |
Manchester Storm | 4-3 SO | Guildford Flames |
Periods: Shots: | 3-1 (28-14) | 0-1 (10-17) | 0-1 (10-14) | 0-0 (2-5) | Total: 50-50 |
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Referees: Pering/Matthews  |  Spectators: 2103 |
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Goals and assists
Manchester Storm and Guildford Flames gave their fans a thriller in
Altrincham on Boxing Day, going through 65 minutes and a shootout to
decide a winner.
12:07 was on the clock when Samuel Tremblay
blased Storm ahead, and it took him a little over three and a half
minutes to double his team's lead with the finish off a loose puck
rolling into the slot. Marcus Tesink's shot from the blue line was
tipped in front of Alex Oldale to halve the deficit at 18:04, but Tyler
Hinam's top-shelf finish beat Taz Burman on the powerplay with eight
seconds left in the opening period to put the Storm 3-1 ahead.
Bradley
Lalonde brought the Flames back to within one at 30:11 in a middle
period dominated by penalties, the majority of which were on the home
side.
Manchester had two man-advantages of their own to increase
their lead in period three, but having not taken advantage they then saw
Lewis Hook tie the game with 6:08 to play.
Overtime was needed
to separate the teams, and it was the Flames who came closest to taking
the extra point, hitting both the crossbar and a post as Oldale's net
lived a charmed life.
The Storm goalie, however, was to earn his
third straight win in the shootout. Oldale stopped three Flames shots
with Joe Morrow scoring the decider for Storm in Round 5 to earn the
hosts the bonus point.