The Waldeck Peterborough Phantoms fell to an opening night defeat at the hands of the Hull Seahawks.
The game didn’t start the way Phantoms would have wanted after Declan Balmer blasted home from the blue line to put the visitors in front on two minutes.
Phantoms drew level with 6:27 on the clock, though, as Lukas Sladkovsky smashed in a slap shot from the right circle, four seconds into a 5 on 3 powerplay for the Phantoms.
Luke Ferrara gave Phantoms the lead with his first competitive Phantoms goal since 2015 by seeing space over Jordan McLaughlin’s shoulder and placing the puck into the top corner.
The third Phantoms goal was their best as the top line linked up once again. This time, Sladkovsky found Ferrara in the middle of the offensive zone and he laid it off for the onrushing Ales Padelek to snipe past McLaughlin for 3-1.
An impressive first period was rounded off by Jarvis Hunt, who gained the offensive zone and ripped his shot into the bottom corner to send Phantoms into the first intermission with a three goal lead.
But if the first period was Phantoms’, the second was definitely Hull’s. They pulled one back with 1:53 played in the second period, as Lee Bonner found space to the right of goal to squeeze an effort past Jordan Marr.
Lee Pollitt put Hull back to within one by beating Marr from just to the left of the Phantoms net.
The two goal lead was restored by Jasper Foster, whose shot bobbled into the net after good work from Tom Norton and Duncan Speirs.
But Hull continued to up the pressure and eventually found a way through once again, as Emil Svec slapped a big blast into the net from the right circle.
And they eventually took the second period 4-1, as Svec notched again, to send the teams in tied at 5-5 going into the third period.
The third period contained much fewer goals, just the one in fact, and unfortunately for the Phantoms, it was the Seahawks who grabbed it. Balmer concluded the scoring with a blue line effort which floated into the back of the net.
FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 5-6 Hull Seahawks
Phantoms goals:
6:27 (PP 1-1 HS): #91 Lukas Sladkovsky / #2 Tom Norton / #19 Luke Ferrara (PPG)
7:33 (PP 2-1 HS): #19 Luke Ferrara / #23 Brad Bowering / #2 Tom Norton (PPG)
15:34 (PP 3-1 HS): #93 Ales Padelek / #19 Luke Ferrara / #91 Lukas Sladkovsky (EHG)
16:40 (PP 4-1 HS): #96 Jarvis Hunt / #11 Scott Robson / #35 Joe Gretton (EHG)
30:27 (PP 5-3 HS): #95 Jasper Foster / #2 Tom Norton / #38 Duncan Speirs (PPG)
Seahawks goals:
2:00 (PP 0-1 HS): #94 Declan Balmer / #24 Brock Bartholomew / #81 Bobby Young (EHG)
21:53 (PP 4-2 HS): #74 Lee Bonner / #21 Bobby Chamberlain / #24 Brock Bartholomew (PPG)
26:32 (PP 4-3 HS): #70 Lee Pollitt / #19 Alex Kent (EHG)
36:31 (PP 5-4 HS): #71 Emil Svec / #94 Declan Balmer / #21 Bobby Chamberlain (PPG)
39:12 (PP 5-5 HS): #71 Emil Svec / #81 Bobby Young (EHG)
49:51 (PP 5-6 HS): #94 Declan Balmer / #21 Bobby Chamberlain / #11 Finlay Ulrick (EHG)
Phantoms man of the match: #19 Luke Ferrara
Seahawks man of the match: #24 Brock Bartholomew