Basingstoke Bison upset the odds to take down Elite League leaders Sheffield Steelers 4-3 after a shootout on Saturday night.
Basingstoke, Panthers, Phoenix and Devils all victorious
Basingstoke Bison upset the odds to take down Elite League leaders Sheffield Steelers 4-3 after a shootout on Saturday night.
Rod Sarich put the visitors ahead at 5.48, but Bison's ace poacher Greg Chambers levelled at 8.19 in an otherwise tight opening period.
Jeff Legue and Doug Sheppard then put the Steelers in control either side of the half-hour mark, but Brent Hughes struck back in the dying seconds of the period to reduce the home side's deficit to one.
Danny Stewart netted the only goal of the final period to send the sides into overtime, and despite being outshot 5-0 Bison held strong to take the game into a penalty shootout.
After a penalty shootout lasting nine rounds, Chambers sent the Basingstoke Arena crowd into rapture with the game's winning shot.
Contenders
Nottingham Panthers kept themselves in contention for the Elite League title with a 6-3 victory over
Newcastle.
Ed Courtenay put the Vipers into a surprise lead at 7.57, but Johan Molin equalised and the Panthers then went on to score four in the second period.
Dan Tessier (two), Matt Myers and David Clarke were the scorers, while Courtenay grabbed his second of the game to make it 5-2.
Todd Griffiths pulled another one back for the visitors at 49.08, but they could get no closer and Molin rounded off the scoring with an empty net goal in the final minute as Vipers slumped to their sixth straight league loss.
Tony Hand notched his 4000th point with an assist on
Manchester's first goal at
Hull as the Phoenix romped to a 7-1 victory away from home.
Slava Koulikov returned to the Stingrays line up to put the Stingrays ahead at 3.03, but seven unanswered scores soon condemned them to a 17th league defeat this season.
David Beauregard and Luke Fulgham both scored hat-tricks and Josh Garbutt netted the other as the Phoenix kept up their chase of the league leaders.
Brad Voth and Mike Prpich put the
Cardiff Devils into an early lead as they won 4-1 at the
Edinburgh Capitals.
Neil Francis and Neil Hay strikes cancelled each other out in the middle period, but Edinburgh then paid the price for not taking advantage of their 10 powerplay opportunities in the game.
They even gave up a shorthanded goal as Prpich scored his second of the game to leave Edinburgh firmly in trouble at the bottom of the table.
