LEEDS KNIGHTS set up a tantalising top-of-the table clash against NIHL National title rivals Milton Keynes Lightning with a thrilling triumph over Swindon Wildcats at The Castle on Sunday night.
The 4-2 win - coupled with Lightning’s 6-5 overtime victory at Hull Seahawks - means one point separates the Knights from the leaders going into Saturday’s game in Milton Keynes.
The teams then meet again at ‘The Castle’ 24 hours later in what will be a pivotal weekend in the regular season title race.
In a hard-fought clash against the Wildcats, the Knights had to come from behind to seal their 30th league win of the campaign, Tomasz Malasinski breaking free down the middle before beating Sam Gospel one-on-one with 23.15 on the clock.
It silenced the Knights’ faithful, but only briefly as they hit straight back when captain Kieran Brown evaded two defenders before firing past Renny Marr into the bottom right-hand corner just 18 seconds later.
The Knights then went ahead on the power play just five minutes later, Marr unable to hold on to Brown’s fierce shot from the right circle, allowing Matt Barron to jab the loose puck home from close range1.
It got even better for the hosts and their fans when Mac Howlett exchanged passes with Bow Neely on the right before driving towards centre ice and beating Marr over his left shoulder from 10 yards out.
The Knights held their two-goal advantage into the third but - as expected, Swindon pushed back hard, getting their reward when Sam Godfrey’s shot from the top of the right circle was parried by Gospel but straight into the path of Reed Sayers, who fired the rebound home at 46.02.
It made for a tense conclusion to the evening for everyone in the building, something that was only eased when - as Swindon piled on the pressure - the puck broke free for Jordan Buesa, who took a couple of steps before firing into the empty net from inside his own zone to make it 4-2 and seal two vital points.
