LEEDS KNIGHTS produced a stirring third period fightback to salvage their double-header weekend against Milton Keynes Lightning when they ran out 7-5 winners in front of a packed Castle.
The previous night in Milton Keynes hadn’t gone according to plan when the Knights uncharacteristically shipped four goals in quick succession to hand the initiative to their hosts, who went on to win 5-1.
And it looked like Tim Wallace’s team were going to take all four points from the weekend when they led 5-4 in Leeds on Sunday with just over six minutes remaining.
But the Knights found their game, producing two goals in the space of 35 seconds to get themselves ahead before a Matt Bissonnette secured the points with a long-range empty net strike.
The win leaves the Knights in third place, 13 points adrift of leaders Swindon Wildcats - who posted a four-point weekend - but with a game in hand.
The two meet this Friday in Swindon in what is a must-win game for the Knights.
On Sunday at The Castle it was the Knights who got off the mark first when Balint Pakozdi fired home a rebound on the power play at 4.53.
The Lightning levelled through former Knights favourite Mac Howlett at 14.37 when he fired home a one-timer past Sam Gospel from the right circle, but it didn’t take long for the Knights to restore their lead when Owen Sobchak pounced two minutes later.
Matt Bissonnette made it 3-1 on the power play from close range early in the second but three Lightning goals in two minutes turned the game on its head, Howlett doubling his tally at 29.19 before Toms Rutkis and former Knights forward Harry Gulliver quickly found the net.
Parity was restored before the end of the period when Finley Bradon made it three Leeds power play goals for the night, but the Lightning forged ahead again less than two minutes into the third when Jordan Cownie scored on the power play.
But a thrilling encounter wasn’t over yet, quick-thinking from Bissonnette behind the net feeding Sobchak who blasted home to make it 5-5 at 53.45.
Pakozdi then found Liam Peyton alone in front to make it 6-5 on the next shift to send the home crowd into raptures, their evening completed when Bissonnette rolled the puck home with just six seconds to spare to make the points safe.
It was a welcome turnaround for Ryan Aldridge’s team who had come unstuck the previous night in Milton Keynes.
After a goalless first period in which the Knights gave as good as they got, their hopes of an 11th road win of the season disappeared rapidly when the Lightning plundered four goals in five second period minutes.
Cownie broke the deadlock on a breakaway at 24.12 before Dominik Gabaj struck shorthanded to double the lead at 26.41.
It was Cownie who again found the net at 28.49 before Howlett got one over on his former club since leaving West Yorkshire when he beat Gospel just 10 seconds later.
Oli Endicott pulled one back before the end of the period on the power play but it was as close as the Knights would get, Sean Norris rubbing salt into the wound when he fired home on the power play inside the final minute for a deserved 5-1 win.
