The final score at the Thunderdome was 5-4 to Milton Keynes after a thrilling 3 periods, overtime and finally a shootout, the Dogs were unlucky to comeback from behind but couldn’t put rubber in the back of the net neither in over time nor a shootout. However, by forcing an overtime the Steeldogs do gain an all-important away point.
Period 1
An early goal from the Lightning definitely knocked the confidence of the Steeldogs however they did not give up having some early chances of their own. Nathan Ripley was the first player for the Steeldogs to sight the net however he unfortunately missed the open net, Will Kerlin again stops more shots from the dogs putting to bed the chance of an equaliser. Sheffield began dominating the offensive throwing the puck left, right and centre at Kerlin however they were denied. Sheffield had an early two powerplays however they come up short both times not being able to secure the goal they needed. Milton Keynes answered back with two great penalty kills nearly scoring shorthanded however they couldn’t add to the score until 12:08 where Jordan Spadafore put the second in for the Lighting assisted by Susters. Towards the end of the 1st period, it was clear that Milton Keynes were putting pressure on the Steeldogs and had a desire for all the glory!
Period 2
The start of period 2 began with a lot of back-and-forth action between offensive and defensive zones. The Lightning from the off tried to control the period passing between themselves and stopping the Steeldogs from trying to make a comeback. The Lightning then got the opportunity they had been waiting for and seized another goal for Milton Keynes, Callum Field scored the goal and was assisted by Ben Brown the score was now 3-1. After the goals Norton made some crucial saves to keep the hopes of the Steeldogs alive however even with a fair few giveaways from Milton Keynes the Dogs just couldn’t put the puck away. Sam Tremblay then was put in the box for tripping which ultimately led to a goal by Rutkis to put the Lightning ahead by four, after this goal play started to die down until Nathan Ripley secured a second for the Dogs which definitely gave the team more confidence pushing them to put more pressure on Milton Keynes. Finally, Ulrick puts another goal in for the Dogs to put the score to 4-3 with just 1 minute 24 seconds to go in the period, the period ended with Spadafore going in the box for cross checking meaning the Dogs were going into the 3rd period on the powerplay!
Period 3
The start of the third period was ultimately very scrappy both sides tried laying down shots however nothing was to come of this. Steeldogs led the initial charge with Walker Sommer, yet he was unlucky not to score, Sheffield came out wanting to win and laid the pressure on thick chances came and went for Nathan Ripley and Sam Cooper, yet the score remained the same. Both teams were showing signs of tiredness yet in the final 2 minutes Walker Sommer scored an equaliser to send the Dogs to overtime.
Overtime
Both netminders played well to keep both teams alive in search for all the point however the 5 minutes ended and again the teams found themselves level.
Penalty Shots
The Steeldogs were unlucky and couldn’t get any passed Kerlin however Venus for Milton Keynes Lightning scored the only goal during penalty shots leading to a victory for Milton Keynes.
Overall, the Steeldogs played well however they couldn’t put there many chances away hindering them from winning the game away at Milton Keynes.