The Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms were comfortably beaten on Saturday night in Milton Keynes.
It was an encounter which saw a short benched Phantoms side take on a full strength MKL roster, boasting a maximum bench size. Meanwhile, Phantoms skaters Nic Martin, Scott Robson, AJ Herring, Connor Glossop, Brad Bowering, Preston Tombs, Callum Buglass, Corey McEwen, Nathan Salem and Jasper Foster were all absent.
The game started in an end-to-end manner, with Dillon Lawrence going close against his former side with a wraparound. The Canadian forward was unfortunate not to score, as Jordan Hedley got enough of it to keep it out of the net.
MKL took the lead at 4:42 when Janne Jokinen breezed past Nojus Venskutonis on the backhand, took the puck back out in front and sent his shot into the empty goal.
They doubled their lead shortly after, when Sean Norris scored through the five hole of Hayden Lavigne.
It got worse for the Phantoms when MKL intercepted a loose breakout pass, which saw Toms Rutkis find Dominik Gabaj in all alone, and the import forward went to the backhand before dispatching his shot.
Norris compounded a disappointing opening period for the Phantoms when he added his second - taking a pass from Jordan Cownie to blast into the back of the net.
The second period started where the first left off, as Mac Howlett took a pass from Patrik Forsberg to blast in a one timer on the powerplay in the opening minute of the second frame.
The home side continued to dominate the puck, but Phantoms stood tall to a couple of MKL powerplays and Liam Oughton-Shaw went close to his first Phantoms goal with an effort from the point.
Lavigne was back in action to deny the dangerous Gabaj who had sprung in on a breakaway, before some strong skating from Cam Hough saw him surge up ice and beat a couple of defencemen, before forcing Jordan Hedley into a save.
Phantoms got themselves on the board at 37:58 when Janne Laakkonen played a lovely cross crease pass to Dillon Lawrence, who found the back of the net against his former employers.
The third period saw a return to the end-to-end nature that the game began with, but it was MKL who struck the next goal as Elliot Lewis added his name to the scoresheet.
Former Phantom Jordan Cownie made it seven for the Lightning after a clever play from Forsberg found the Scotsman all alone out in front.
Phantoms got one back when Lawrence sent Ralfs Circenis on a breakaway and Phantoms’ #33 sniped his shot short side to reduce the deficit.
But it was MKL who had the final say as Norris completed his hat-trick on a tough night for a short benched Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms side.
FINAL SCORE: Milton Keynes Lightning 8-3 Peterborough Phantoms
Phantoms goals:
37:58 (MK 5-1 PP): #14 Dillon Lawrence / #62 Janne Laakkonen (EHG)
55:06 (MK 7-2 PP): #33 Ralfs Circenis / #14 Dillon Lawrence (EHG)
57:31 (MK 7-3 PP): #14 Dillon Lawrence / #29 Cam Hough / #19 Luke Ferrara (PPG)
MKL goals:
4:42 (MK 1-0 PP): #63 Janne Jokinen / #5 Jordan Spadafore / #4 Archie Salisbury (EHG)
5:39 (MK 2-0 PP): #86 Sean Norris / #23 Dominik Gabaj (EHG)
14:57 (MK 3-0 PP): #23 Dominik Gabaj / #10 Toms Rutkis (EHG)
18:39 (MK 4-0 PP): #86 Sean Norris / #95 Jordan Cownie (EHG)
20:49 (MK 5-0 PP): #17 Mac Howlett / #37 Patrik Forsberg (PPG)
47:44 (MK 6-1 PP): #29 Elliot Lewis / #89 Rio Grinnell-Parke (EHG)
53:52 (MK 7-1 PP): #95 Jordan Cownie / #37 Patrik Forsberg / #17 Mac Howlett (EHG)
58:56 (MK 8-3 PP): #86 Sean Norris (Hat-Trick) / #10 Toms Rutkis / #23 Dominik Gabaj (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #14 Dillon Lawrence
MKL man of the match: #86 Sean Norris