The Waldeck Peterborough Phantoms battled back from three goals down, but ultimately fell to the Milton Keynes Lightning in overtime.
Phantoms had an early chance to take a lead when Lewis Christie was called for tripping on 2:15, but after killing the penalty off, Mack Stewart put MKL ahead from in close.
And they doubled their lead just 35 seconds later as former Phantom Corey McEwen got in close and finished past Jordan Marr.
Rory Herrman sent it from bad to worse for the Phantoms hen he sniped one top shelf, completing a nightmare two minutes for Slava’s side, which saw them 3-0 down.
But after a timeout and a fight between Ralfs Circenis and James Griffin, Phantoms started to find their feet, as Austin Mitchell-King, Lukas Sladkovsky and Jasper Foster all saw good efforts saved by MKL goalie, Will Kerlin.
Work to do for Phantoms in the second period but they got right to their task inside the first four minutes of the frame. Sladkovsky pounced on a rebound from a Luke Ferrara shot to put Phantoms on the board.
And with 26:53 played, Phantoms got themselves back to within one, as Ivan Björkly Nordström scored from in close after good work up high by Ferrara and Sladkovsky.
But MKL hit straight back as Liam Stewart blasted a powerplay goal home from the back post at 28:58.
Phantoms got themselves back into the locker room just one goal down though, as a lovely set by Tom Norton saw young Scottish forward Torran Anderson notch a debut goal with a good finish into the bottom corner.
The big moment of the third period came on 46:29 and it went in favour of the Phantoms, as Luke Ferrara took a good centring pass by Callum Buglass to rip the home side level.
Both sides traded chances in the closing stages of the third as Norton went close on the powerplay, before Marr pulled off a fantastic save to deny Dillon Lawrence a shorthanded breakaway goal with two seconds left on the clock.
Phantoms did ultimately fall short in overtime, and it was a moment of brilliance by Great Britain International, Ross Venus, who went bar down with a shot through his own legs to seal the extra point for the visitors.
Next up for the Phantoms is a trip to Milton Keynes to take on MKL again tomorrow night (28th December), before the Raiders visit Planet Ice Peterborough on New Year’s Day.
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 4-5 Milton Keynes Lightning
Phantoms goals:
23:40 (PP 1-3 MK): #91 Lukas Sladkovsky / #19 Luke Ferrara / #2 Tom Norton (PPG)
26:53 (PP 2-3 MK): #5 Ivan Björkly Nordström / #19 Luke Ferrara / #91 Lukas Sladkovsky (PPG)
37:47 (PP 3-4 MK): #77 Torran Anderson / #2 Tom Norton / #95 Jasper Foster (EHG)
46:29 (PP 4-4 MK): #19 Luke Ferrara / #45 Callum Buglass / #2 Tom Norton (EHG)
MKL goals:
5:43 (PP 0-1 MK): #16 Mack Stewart / #17 Corey McEwen / #10 Toms Rutkis (EHG)
6:18 (PP 0-2 MK): #17 Corey McEwen / #16 Mack Stewart / #93 Ben Brown (EHG)
7:34 (PP 0-3 MK): #7 Rory Hermann / #59 Ross Venus / #14 Dillon Lawrence (EHG)
28:58 (PP 2-4 MK): #8 Liam Stewart / #59 Ross Venus / #7 Rory Herrman (PPG)
61:25 (PP 4-5 MK): #59 Ross Venus / #28 Tim Wallace / #7 Rory Herrman (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #91 Lukas Sladkovsky
MKL man of the match: #33 Milique Martelly