Hull Seahawks 0-5 Swindon Wildcats

Hull Seahawks started without Emil Svec, their star import, due to suspension. In goal, Jordan McLaughlin started and performed heroically on the night, earning him a well-deserved man-of-the-match award. But it was the familiar story of the team being short-benched with injuries and absences reducing the team to thirteen skaters including temporary signing, Mark Florence, a veteran of former Hull teams.

Despite being outnumbered on paper and outclassed by a formidable Swindon side, the first period was an end-to-end affair. Both teams created chances but neither was able to convert these until the Wildcats’ Loris Taylor went through 1-on-1 and opened the scoring.

Swindon’s anticipated dominance failed to materialise even after a penalty shot, saved expertly by McLaughlin. In the second period, players of both teams worked hard for chances and battled for every stretch of ice. This frantic period resulted in multiple penalties and powerplays for both sides. While Hull’s powerplays were thwarted by Marr in the net for Swindon, Tomasz Malasinski came out of the penalty box and took advantage of a great pass to score the Wildcats second goal. It was quickly followed by a third minutes later after a deflected shot found its way past the Seahawks’ netminder.

Albeit short-benched, the Hull Seahawks’ enthusiasm and energy did not waver, which was appreciated by the home fans. The Wildcats came out fighting for the third period but the Seahawks defended the net admirably. Despite their best efforts, the Seahawks conceded two more goals making it 5-0 Swindon on the night.

The Seahawks were not all defending in the last period, they had good spells were they came extremely close to scoring on the Wildcats, but they were unable to convert. Again, if it was not for the opposition goaltender, then the Seahawks may have been able to take greater advantage of their chances they created.