Hull Seahawks 7-2 Peterborough Phantoms
Both teams arrived at the Hull Ice Arena looking to achieve a four-point weekend. The Seahawks were backing up an away win at the Bristol Pitbulls, whilst Peterborough got back to winning ways on a road trip at Basingstoke. Head coach Matty Davies had spoken earlier in the week at the clubs fan forum event of how we would now see the team he had signed in the summer, after a difficult few months of injuries, suspensions and visa issues.
After a cagey few minutes to open the game, the Phantoms began to have the better of the opportunities, with a couple of shots hitting the post. The Seahawks were the first team to take a trip to the penalty box following a trip by Sam Towner. Hull’s penalty kill unit was successful in keeping the scores level, as Peterborough patiently looked to find the go-ahead goal. Minutes later, following a slash by Peterborough’s Lukas Sladkovsky, Hull got their first opportunity on the power play which they took advantage of. Nathan Salem managed to tip in Emil Svec’s shot from deep to open the scoring. As the players celebrated on the ice, the Hull Ice Arena began raining teddy bears, in the traditional ‘Air the Bear’ game. The teddies thrown onto the ice following the Seahawks first goal will be donated by the club this week to children in local hospitals. The goalscorer Salem ended up in the penalty box themselves late in the first period, a power play which was dealt with. However, only seconds later Peterborough equalised through Ales Padelek who managed to force the puck into the net following the deep shot from Callum Buglass.
The second period began with a rather dominant few minutes of play for the Phantoms, forcing some incredible saves out of Jordan McLaughlin. Some excellent defensive play from the line of Fisher, Jones and Kent helped keep things level. Then came a run of play lasting only four minutes, in which the Seahawks scored three goals, stretching out to a 4-1 lead. Goals from Owen Bruton, Nathan Salem and Lee Pollitt helped create the advantage for the home team at the end of the second period. The moment of the period was Pollitt’s goal, created by a stunning bit of skating by Salem, rounding the net before laying it on a plate for Pollitt.
The Phantoms looked to come out and chase the game early in the third, but another flurry of Seahawks’ goals gave them a 7-1 advantage with just nine minutes remaining. The import pairing of Emil Svec, on his home debut, and a double from Andrej Themar creating an unassailable lead. The two linked up fantastically for Svec’s goal, with a pass from deep in the Hull zone by Themar finding Svec in the open, allowing him to put the 1 v 1 chance past Jordan Marr. Peterborough did get one back with an excellent wrist shot by Sladkovsky over the shoulder of McLaughlin.
This was arguably the performance of the season so far for the Hull Seahawks, who on the night outclassed a team who are contending for the league title. Netminder Jordan McLaughlin continues to impress between the pipes, earning another man-of-the-match performance this evening. The defence kept the highest-scoring team in the league to just two goals, and this was by far the Seahawks’ most clinical performance in front of the opposition’s net. The win streak for Hull stretches to four games at a vital time and will give them a growing level of confidence going into four local derbies in eight days, against the Sheffield Steeldogs and league-leading Leeds Knights following the Christmas break. Operation ‘Reach the Playoffs’ may be just beginning in Hull.