NEXT HOME GAME: The Go Goodwin’s Manchester Storm face the Fife Flyers at the Storm Shelter on Sunday the 6th of March (5pm face-off). Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here, calling the box office on 08700 852 929 or direct at the box office.

STORM BACK ON TRACK:

The beginning of the game saw the Go Goodwin’s Manchester Storm come flying out of the locker room, clearly on the hunt for the win and the vital 2 points. Within the first three minutes, the Storm were 1-0 up thanks to a great shot from Paul Swindlehurst being deflected into the Stars net by Matty Davies. This was followed up less than a minute later when Matt Paton blasted a laser beam into the top left corner past Koenig in the Stars net, to double the Storms lead. Not content with two, the Storm went three-nil up when Luke Salazar went straight for the 5 hole of Koenig with just over a minute later. The Manchester Storm were 3-0 up and the clock hadn’t even passed the 5 minute mark of the game.

The Dundee Stars called a 30 second time out as they tried to address the situation, and whilst on a 3-on-5 power play, Lou Dickenson was able to squeeze one past Zane Kalemba in the Storms net to cut the Storms lead to two. Still a man short, the Storm continued to look for the break, and non other than Grant Toulmin found a way though, deaking left to right as he poked one over the glove of Koenig to restore the Storms 3 goal lead just before the 10 minute mark. Jason Gray was able to bag the Stars second of the night, unmarked by the Storms defence, to make it a two goal game.

The second period once again couldn’t have started out better for the Storm, as Luke Salazar once again got his name on the score sheet with a fantastic goal from a Matt Sisca pass. The play began to run end to end and both teams pushed hard for their next goal, and both teams took penalties along the way. Doug Clarkson clawed one back for the Stars just after the halfway point of the match, before Luke Salazar completed his hat trick, once again from a fantastic pass by Matt Sisca to put the Storm 6-3 up. With the minutes ticking away in the 2nd, the Storm began to amass penalties. With less than a minute left, Curtis Leinweber slotted one past Kalemba on a 3-on-4 power play.

The Dundee Stars came out in the third and played very aggressively, and starting on the power play, began to work the puck seamlessly around the Storm end. The Storm defence continued to push hard to clear their own end and were able in the end to kill off the penalty. The hockey was then end to end, with both sides going close to grabbing the next goal, but were unable to break the deadlock in this, the final period. With just over 3 minutes remaining in the game, Stars goalie, Koenig, was pulled by the Stars bench, leaving a gaping net, which gave local boy, and Storm’s new signing, Paul Swindlehurst, the perfect opportunity for his first goal in Storm colours, and he took full advantage scoring the empty net goal which all but ended Dundee’s chances of getting back into the game! The scoring wasn’t yet done though, with the Storm on the penalty kill again, and Koenig once again pulled, the Stars were able to bag goal number five when Justin Farina pushed one past Kalemba in the Storm goal, with less than 30 seconds remaining. The clock counted down, and with no more goals, the Manchester Storm returned to winning ways in their quest for the final play-off spot!

Final Score: Manchester Storm 7 Dundee Stars 5