A perfect six-point weekend saw Leeds Knights move a step closer to winning the Planet Ice NIHL National Division title as they went 11 points clear at the top of the standings.
The Knights edged past Swindon Wildcats 2-1 at the Link Centre on Friday night before winning home and away against Hull Seahawks – the side who knocked them out of the National Cup semi-finals little over a month ago.
Those results also mean the Knights are just one win away from securing their second successive regular season title, which could come as early against nearest challengers MK Lightning on Saturday night.
Lightning couldn’t replicate the Knights’ perfect success, having started the weekend with a hard-fought 7-5 victory at home to Bees IHC on Saturday. They couldn’t make it a four-point weekend, however, as they went down 5-4 to the same opposition after a gripping shoot-out the following day.
Another of the division’s front-runners, third-placed Swindon bounced back from their Friday defeat to Leeds by defeating Bristol Pitbulls 6-0.
Peterborough Phantoms endured a mixed weekend too, losing 6-5 to Solway Sharks in Dumfries on Saturday before winning the return fixture in overtime the next day. However, Sunday’s win was enough to see them mathematically confirm their place in the end-of-season play-offs.
Telford Tigers’ weekend started on a positive footing, thanks to Saturday’s 8-6 victory over fellow top-eight hopefuls Raiders IHC.
However, they couldn’t go 2/2 as Sheffield Steeldogs ran out 7-6 winners in South Yorkshire on Sunday – picking up two points in their only game of the weekend.
Likewise, Raiders IHC came away with two points to show for their weekend’s efforts, recovering from Saturday’s defeat to Telford by thrashing the Pitbulls 8-0 to end the week on a positive note.
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.
Fri 8th Mar Swindon Wildcats 1-2 Leeds Knights L
Sat 9th Mar Leeds Knights 6-4 Hull Seahawks L
Sat 9th Mar Milton Keynes Lightning 7-5 Bees IHC L
Sat 9th Mar Solway Sharks 6-5 Peterborough Phantoms L
Sat 9th Mar Swindon Wildcats 6-0 Bristol Pitbulls L
Sat 9th Mar Telford Tigers 8-6 Raiders IHC L
Sun 10th Mar Bees IHC 5-4 (SO) Milton Keynes Lightning L
Sun 10th Mar Hull Seahawks 2-5 Leeds Knights L
Sun 10th Mar Peterborough Phantoms 6-5 (OT) Solway Sharks L
Sun 10th Mar Raiders IHC 8-0 Bristol Pitbulls L
Sun 10th Mar Sheffield Steeldogs 7-6 Telford Tigers L
Sat 9th Mar Deeside Dragons 6-1 Blackburn Hawks M56
Sat 9th Mar Hull Jets 6-5 Nottingham Lions L
Sat 9th Mar Sheffield Scimitars 6-9 Billingham Stars L
Sun 10th Mar Billingham Stars 1-2 Hull Jets L
Sun 10th Mar Blackburn Hawks 8-1 Sheffield Scimitars L
Sun 10th Mar Deeside Dragons 7-5 Whitley Warriors L
Sun 10th Mar Solihull Barons 9-1 Nottingham Lions L
Sat 9th Mar Romford Buccaneers 2-4 Invicta Dynamos L
Sat 9th Mar Solent Devils 5-1 Oxford City Stars L
Sat 9th Mar Streatham Redhawks 4-5 (SO) Chelmsford Chieftains L
Sun 10th Mar Invicta Dynamos 1-5 Chelmsford Chieftains L
Sun 10th Mar Milton Keynes Thunder 1-10 Solent Devils L
Sun 10th Mar Oxford City Stars 0-10 Streatham Redhawks BC
Sat 9th Mar Billingham Buccaneers 8-0 Nottingham Lions NIHL 2 L
Sat 9th Mar Sheffield Titans 0-4 Sutton Sting L
Sun 10th Mar Kingston Sharks 4-6 Sheffield Titans L
Sun 10th Mar Nottingham Lions NIHL 2 3-9 Bradford Bulldogs L
Sun 10th Mar Sutton Sting 2-1 (SO) Billingham Buccaneers L
Sun 10th Mar Telford Tigers NIHL 2 5-3 Altrincham Aces L
Sat 9th Mar Bristol Pitbulls NIHL 2 6-1 Streatham Black Hawks L
Sat 9th Mar Chelmsford Warriors 3-5 Solent Junior Devils L
Sat 9th Mar Guildford Phoenix 3-2 Haringey Huskies L
Sat 9th Mar Invicta Mustangs 10-4 Oxford Rising Stars L
Sun 10th Mar Lee Valley Lions 0-4 Cardiff Fire L
Sun 10th Mar Streatham Black Hawks 3-8 Basingstoke Buffalo L
Photo credit: Leeds Knights
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