The final pre-season encounter saw the Storm welcome German DEL2 opposition, Lausitzer Füchse, in what would turn out to be an extremely entertaining and fiery match, with the hosts securing a 4-3 victory after overtime.

The visitors did not take long to acclimatise to the new conditions, as a harsh penalty call against Durflinger afforded Lausitzer Füchse a powerplay chance. After 88 seconds, they took the lead as Zerter-Gossage rifled a shot over the glove of a hapless Oldale. However, the resilience shown by the current Storm roster quickly became evident as a wonderful cross-zone pass from Esteves found Morrow, whose hard slapshot defeated former Steelers netminder Morrone through the wickets. The back-and-forth nature of the game was highlighted when Zerter-Gossage picked off a pass in his own defensive end, skated through three zones, and picked his shot over the blocker of Oldale in the 15th minute to ensure the visitors held a lead going into the first intermission.

British netminder Oldale was immediately thrust into action, making multiple good saves in the opening moments of the match. The Storm were able to draw level after weathering initial Lausitzer Füchse pressure, as Hughes’ expert positioning enabled him to backhand the precise pass from Robert into the net in the 27th minute. A couple of good saves from Morrone thwarted the hosts, who were pushing hard for an equaliser in the 33rd minute. However, the pressure eventually paid off as Lee skated onto an excellent feed from Esteves, who, while sliding to his knees, managed to slide the puck over to the youngster, who finished with aplomb from the slot to give Manchester their first lead of the encounter.

The final period started in a similar vein to the previous two, with both teams finishing their checks and battling for the puck all over the ice. A break of the puck from a face-off enabled Beaudry to step into a slapshot that whistled into the Storm net to knot things at 3 apiece in the 49th minute. Lausitzer Füchse were awarded a penalty shot in the 55th minute, but Scheidl was unable to convert the potential match-winning opportunity as his effort cleared the crossbar. The final five minutes of play saw both sides going all out for the winner but to no avail, as the game headed into overtime.

The bonus hockey ended in emphatic fashion for the Storm, as wave after wave of attacking pressure in overtime saw Ehrhardt bury a rebound off the pads of Morrone after 73 seconds, ensuring the Storm’s impressive pre-season was rounded off with a victory.

Words by: Callum Schora