Peterborough ice hockey review

By Robert McGregor
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

As the cold weather began to set in around the county, Peterborough's ice hockey teams looked to put the big freeze on their opponents last weekend - but were met with a decidedly frosty response on home ice.

James Morgan opened the scoring for the Phantoms against Telford

The Peterborough Phantoms travelled north on Saturday to take on the Sheffield Scimitars, who had stolen a 3-2 win at the Peterborough Arena just a fortnight before.

Stephen Wall was back in goal for the Phantoms, but the north-eastern netminder found himself in at the deep end as the two sides battled it out to finish 8-8 at the end of three periods.

When the five-minute overtime period could not yield a winner, the dreaded penalty shootout was required to separate the two teams.

Canadian forward Nathan Rempel scored the decisive penalty shot to give Peterborough a morale-boosting victory, Craig Peacock picking up three goals and an assist on the night.

On Sunday, Phantoms played host to Telford Tigers, a side who have surprised many this year with some strong performances in the English Premier League.

Phantoms took the early lead through James Morgan, who rifled the puck past Telford goalie Davey Lawrence after just over seven minutes of the first period.

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The Shropshire side continued to battle hard, but the home team managed to retain most of the possession and open up a 4-2 lead with just seven minutes remaining.

Disaster struck, however, as Telford managed to draw level, and then Andre Niec capitalised on a mistake by Rempel to race clear and beat Wall in the Phantoms' net for the winning goal.

British forward Peacock, who scored another two goals to cap off a great weekend, was given the man-of-the-match award, but many fans were disappointed not to be leaving with the two points as well.

This weekend Phantoms make the trip south to face the Isle of Wight Raiders on Saturday, before hosting local rivals Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday (face off 1730 GMT).

Isle of Wight have sprung a number of surprise results already this season - most notably beating league favourites Guildford on three separate occasions - and coach Colin Patterson will be keen to ensure Phantoms' good form away from home continues.

Milton Keynes have been in reasonable form since their last visit to Peterborough at the start of November, winning four out of six games.

Islanders netminder Kelly Herring in action against Invicta

The Peterborough Islanders were also in action last weekend, welcoming perennial contenders Invicta to the Peterborough Arena on Saturday.

Despite riding high on a seven-game winning streak, Islanders were unable to find form on the night and slipped to a 3-2 defeat, Clint Herring and man-of-the-match Shaun Yardley finding the back of the net for the home side.

Islanders then made the long trip to Cardiff on Sunday to face the Dragons, who had also lost on Saturday night.

A much-improved performance from Jesse Hamill's side saw them take maximum points, and a valuable away win in the Welsh capital.

Tom Perkins, Tom Davis and Ross MacIntosh all made it onto the score sheet, but Islander captain Michael Knights may want to forget this one in a hurry - the experienced defenseman scored an own goal!

This weekend the Islanders are in action against Milton Keynes, hosting the MK Thunder on Saturday (face off 1800 GMT).

Upcoming ice hockey action in Peterborough:

Peterborough Phantoms - Isle of Wight Raiders (a), Milton Keynes Lightning (h)

Peterborough Islanders - Milton Keynes Thunder (h), Invicta Dynamos (a)

Peterborough Predators - Streatham Night Hawks (h)

Islanders' netminder Kelly Herring recorded her first shut out of the season the last time the two sides met, with Peterborough skating away 3-0 victors.

On Sunday they head to Gillingham to once again do battle with the Invicta Dynamos.

Following 'The Mo's' win at the Peterborough Arena last weekend, it is sure to be an all-action affair as the Cambridgeshire side look to get their English National League Southern Championship defence firmly back on track.

One of the city's recreational sides also took to the ice last weekend, with the Peterborough Predators facing off against the Chelmsford Chargers.

The end result was a 5-5 tie, with Predators stand-in goalie Matt Withers being awarded the man-of-the-match award for his performance.

Predators' next game is on 12 December, when they welcome Streatham Night Hawks to the Peterborough Arena.