The Waldeck Peterborough Phantoms picked up their second consecutive victory by defeating the Telford Tigers on Saturday night.
The opening exchanges of the game didn’t feature too many decent chances at either end, but you could feel the sense of intrigue around the arena with Ivan Björkly Nordström making his debut for the Waldeck Peterborough Phantoms.
Rhodes Mitchell-King had the game’s first good shot as he let rip with a one timer from the blue line, but it was well saved by Jordan Marr in the Phantoms net.
But Telford did take the lead with just under 10 minutes played as Scott McKenzie bundled the puck home after Marr saved the initial shot from Jake Price.
The Tigers went into the first intermission with the lead but both sides will have felt like they needed to do more if they were going to win the game.
Brad Day was called into action more often than Marr in the second period and made one of the best saves you’ll see all season in the process. With Callum Buglass seemingly set to score a tap in from just to the right of goal, Day leapt across to make an unbelievable save to keep the Tigers’ lead intact.
But the Phantoms were not to be denied for much longer and it was Martins Susters who levelled the scores on 34:46. When Björkly Nordström drove from the left circle to the centre of the net, it was Susters who eventually forced the puck over the line.
And Phantoms went into the second period with a one goal lead courtesy of Ales Padelek. Following some good work from Susters and Luke Ferrara behind the net, Padelek found space at the top of the crease to lash the puck into the roof of the net.
Former Phantom Harry Ferguson went close to a leveller early in the third, but saw his effort ping the post.
Jarvis Hunt sealed the win for Phantoms with 54:45 played, redirecting the puck into the net after Scott Robson found his tape.
Björkly Nordström then went close to capping off a good debut with a goal, but Susters’ cross-crease pass just evaded the 6ft 7 forward.
Phantoms are back at it on Sunday night when they travel to Romford to take on the Raiders, looking for their first four-point weekend of the 2023/24 NIHL National League season!
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 3-1 Telford Tigers
Phantoms goals:
34:46 (PP 1-1 TT): #77 Martins Susters / #34 Ivan Björkly Nordström / #45 Callum Buglass (EHG)
39:29 (PP 2-1 TT): #93 Ales Padelek / #19 Luke Ferrara / #77 Martins Susters (EHG)
54:45 (PP 3-1 TT): #96 Jarvis Hunt / #11 Scott Robson / #45 Callum Buglass (EHG)
Tigers goal:
9:59 (PP 0-1 TT): #77 Scott McKenzie / #8 Jake Price / #7 Connor Lee (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #34 Ivan Björkly Nordström
Tigers man of the match: #30 Brad Day