MK Lightning maintained their lead at the top of the Planet Ice NIHL National Division after sweeping aside Bees IHC 5-2 on Saturday.

Lightning produced a dominant display to retain their two-point cushion over Leeds Knights, who were taken to overtime by Swindon Wildcats before eventually running out 3-2 winners at the Link Centre on Sunday evening.

Earlier in the weekend, the Wildcats’ Link Centre homecoming was one to remember. A day prior to their slender defeat to the Knights, they produced an emphatic display to sweep aside Sheffield Steeldogs 8-2.

The weekend’s hockey in the NIHL began on Friday night as Hull Seahawks overcame Solway Sharks 6-3. The Seahawks went on to seal a four-point weekend, thrashing Bristol Pitbulls 11-1 the following day.

Another side that went 2/2 over the weekend were Peterborough Phantoms. They won 4-3 at the Pitbulls on Saturday before returning home to edge a competitive affair against Solway on Sunday – 5-3 being their margin of victory in that game.

Solway’s disappointing weekend meant they dropped to 10th in the NIHL standings. They were leapfrogged by Raiders IHC, who sealed a fantastic 6-5 overtime win at Telford Tigers on Saturday.

Full results for the weekend can be found below. Thanks to our friends at NIHL Stats, you can also check out the latest results from the WNIHL and junior leagues.

NIHL National Division –

Fri 15th Dec Hull Seahawks 6-3 Solway Sharks L/C
Sat 16th Dec Bristol Pitbulls 3-4 Peterborough Phantoms L
Sat 16th Dec Milton Keynes Lightning 5-2 Bees IHC L
Sat 16th Dec Swindon Wildcats 8-2 Sheffield Steeldogs L/C
Sat 16th Dec Telford Tigers 5-6 (OT) Raiders IHC L
Sun 17th Dec Bees IHC 4-3 (OT) Telford Tigers L
Sun 17th Dec Hull Seahawks 11-1 Bristol Pitbulls L
Sun 17th Dec Peterborough Phantoms 5-3 Solway Sharks L
Sun 17th Dec Raiders IHC 2-4 Sheffield Steeldogs L
Sun 17th Dec Swindon Wildcats 2-3 (OT) Leeds Knights L/C

NIHL North 1 (Moralee) –

Sat 16th Dec Hull Jets 7-6 (OT) Deeside Dragons L
Sat 16th Dec Nottingham Lions 2-6 Solihull Barons L
Sat 16th Dec Sheffield Scimitars 1-3 Widnes Wild L
Sun 17th Dec Blackburn Hawks 4-2 Whitley Warriors L
Sun 17th Dec Deeside Dragons 8-2 Nottingham Lions L
Sun 17th Dec Solihull Barons 3-2 (OT) Sheffield Scimitars L
Sun 17th Dec Widnes Wild 1-7 Billingham Stars L

NIHL South 1 (Britton) –

Sat 16th Dec Oxford City Stars 0-7 Invicta Dynamos L/C
Sat 16th Dec Romford Buccaneers 4-5 Chelmsford Chieftains L
Sat 16th Dec Slough Jets 8-2 Milton Keynes Thunder L
Sat 16th Dec Solent Devils 1-6 Streatham Redhawks L/C
Sun 17th Dec Milton Keynes Thunder 1-13 Invicta Dynamos L/C
Sun 17th Dec Streatham Redhawks 10-2 Chelmsford Chieftains BC

NIHL North 2 (Laidler) –

Sat 16th Dec Coventry NIHL Blaze 1-3 Billingham Buccaneers L
Sat 16th Dec Kingston Sharks 6-5 Nottingham Lions NIHL 2 L/C
Sat 16th Dec Sheffield Titans 7-5 Bradford Bulldogs L/C
Sat 16th Dec Sutton Sting 6-2 Altrincham Aces L/C
Sun 17th Dec Altrincham Aces 3-4 Coventry NIHL Blaze L
Sun 17th Dec Billingham Buccaneers 1-2 Telford Tigers NIHL 2 L/C
Sun 17th Dec Bradford Bulldogs 0-5 Sutton Sting L
Sun 17th Dec Nottingham Lions NIHL 2 1-7 Sheffield Titans L

NIHL South 2 (Wilkinson) –

Sat 16th Dec Guildford Phoenix 11-0 Oxford Rising Stars L/C
Sat 16th Dec Invicta Mustangs 3-12 Bristol Pitbulls NIHL 2 L
Sat 16th Dec Peterborough Phantoms NIHL 2 16-1 Chelmsford Warriors L/C
Sun 17th Dec Basingstoke Buffalo 5-6 (OT) Haringey Huskies L
Sun 17th Dec Bristol Pitbulls NIHL 2 2-3 Cardiff Fire L/C
Sun 17th Dec Oxford Rising Stars 7-4 Lee Valley Lions L

Photo credit: Oxford City Stars / Paul Foster