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Phoenix edged in 7 goal thriller

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Phoenix went home licking their wounds after going down in 7-goal thriller in their first ‘home’ game for three years.

Looking to bounce back from Saturday’s 6-2 loss in Sheffield, Phoenix struck twice in the opening seven minutes as Ryan Watson fired them ahead before the Tony Hand – Johan Molin shorthanded double act, that had tallied twice on Saturday, struck again with Hand roofing the puck off a sweet pass from his Swedish winger.

The visitors reduced the arrears in the 35th minute as former Phoenix player Jason Hewitt netted his first goal as a Sheffield Steeler. Some of the tetchiness from Saturday’s game re-surfaced late in the second period as Steelers Dan Tessier and Johan Molin of the Phoenix exchanged unpleasantries and both received 10-minute Misconduct penalties.

 The start of the third period saw the teams exchange quick markers as Robin Gomez squeezed the puck past Jody Lehman to give the Phoenix a two-goal lead that was quickly wiped out by a Shaun Sutter strike ninety seconds later. With Derek Campbell assessed a 10-minute Misconduct penalty and Ryan Watson unluckily adjudged for Diving, Sheffield tied the game on the 53rd minute powerplay courtesy of Tessier, leaving Phil Hill to net the game-winner to break Phoenix hearts in the 55th minute.

Phoenix coach Tony Hand noted, “I thought we had the better of the game tonight and played some good hockey. But, once again a couple of mistakes cost us dearly and at this level, you can’t afford too many errors because the other teams will punish you. Our fans gave us great support over the weekend and we’re disappointed we couldn’t quite get them the win over Sheffield they desperately wanted.”

Final score: Manchester Phoenix 3  Sheffield Steelers 4