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Wallace scores on debut, but Phoenix go down in MK

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New signing Stephen Wallace marked his Manchester Phoenix debut with a third period powerplay goal, but it wasn't enough to give his new team the victory they needed to keep the pressure on Milton Keynes.

An explosive and eventful opening to the game saw Phoenix fall behind after just 27 seconds as Monir Kalgoum found space to slide the puck past Steve Fone in the Phoenix goal. Shortly after the restart, Lightning agitator Grant MacPherson swapped unpleasantries with Tony Hand, and the Phoenix player coach responded, meting out his own form of justice and earning a double minor for Roughing in the process. The fight though appeared to galvanise his team and despite the home side having more scoring opportunities, it was the Phoenix who tied the scored in the 15th minute as Greg Wood and Robert Lachowicz combined to feed Iain Bowie and the Scot tucked the puck past Holyhead in the Lightning goal. Phoenix had recovered and finished the period on top and taking a long powerplay into the second session.

The second period saw the home side take control on the scoreboard as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Phoenix pulled one back late on. Zatopek on a powerplay and an Adam Carr breakaway in the space of 45 seconds in the 24th minute saw the Lightning gain clear water on the Phoenix. And when Brittle added a fourth marker for the home side in the 29th minute, things did not look good for the Phoenix. And when Andre Payette was ejected on a 5 + Game penalty for Roughing shortly after the re-start, the Phoenix were further impaired with Jaakko Hagelberg unavailable through suspension. Phoenix though stuck gamely to their task and reduced the arrears in the 35th minute as Mattsson and Hand created the opening for Ed Courtenay to score and send the teams to the second break with a two-goal spread.

Needing some inspiration to claw back the deficit, Phoenix were unable to make the most of their first powerplay in the third period, but on their second new signing Stephen Wallace marked his debut to make it a one-goal game with just over ten minutes to play. Phoenix were boosted and continued to press forward in search of an equaliser but five minutes later again fell two goals behind as Lightning player coach Nick Poole squeezed the puck home in a goalmouth scramble. An already chippy game continued to crackle with physical contact and Jamieson tried to provoke Phoenix captain Luke Boothroyd into fighting only for Adam Walker to score on the resulting powerplay in the 58th minute. The home side sealed the victory however, just over a minute later, Carr netting his second of the game and the brave Phoenix effort came up short.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand commented, "We needed a good effort tonight and despite the result, I think we generally worked hard and competed pretty well. Stephen Wallace made a solid debut and scored, and we couldn't ask much more than that. Going into the game missing Jaakko (Hagelberg) through suspension, it didn't do us any favours to lose Andre (Payette) to a game penalty after half an hour."