Gron dazzles as Phoenix beat Swindon

Sunday, 18th October 2015

Former NHL star Stanislav Gron inspired Manchester Phoenix to a three point weekend with a hat trick to seal a 5-3 win over the Swindon Wildcats in Deeside on Sunday evening.

Phoenix dominated the early stages, and Michal Satek banked in a shot off Swindon netminder Stevie Lyle at 4:50, and then Stanislav Gron expertly tipped home a Ben Wood shot at 7:05 to give Phoenix a 2-0 advantage. Phoenix captain Luke Boothroyd then picked up a penalty and Canadian Carlo Finucci converted on the Powerplay at 11:42 and despite a series of Phoenix chances, Finucci scored again at 18:06 to make the score 2-2 at the end of the period.

Phoenix dominated the start of the second period and after a series of chances, James Archer blasted home at 31:35 to restore the lead. Steve Fone was required to make a number of saves in the latter half of the period to maintain the 3-2 scoreline.

Both sides had chances in the third period as Jan Kostal hit the post for Swindon and Gron was denied on a breakaway for Phoenix. However Polish international Tomasz Malasinski made the difference on the Powerplay for Swindon at 51:15 to tie the game at 3-3.

This goal only served to inspire Phoenix, and Gron circled from behind the net to restore the lead at 56:45 and after Swindon’s netminder was pulled for the extra skater, Gron raced from his own zone to score the empty net goal with 17 seconds remaining.

Phoenix Coach Tony Hand commented: “I thought we fully deserved the win tonight; we created some great scoring chances and made some good decisions in our own zone. Stan is getting stronger with every game and the way he took his goals tonight showed the quality he possesses.”

Phoenix are at home next Sunday evening against the Bracknell Bees, with a 6:30pm face-off in Deeside.