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Courtenay overtime winner gets Phoenix back on winning track

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Manchester Phoenix 5 - 4 Peterborough Phantoms (after overtime)

An overtime strike from Ed Courtenay saw Manchester Phoenix return to winning ways on Saturday night after a battling performance from the Peterborough Phantoms saw the game tied after sixty minutes.

Former NHL star Ed Courtenay was perfectly positioned at the back post to fire home the game-winning goal deep into the overtime period, taking his personal total to 32 goals for the season and more importantly, with league leaders Milton Keynes losing at home against the Slough Jets, keeping Phoenix within two points of first place in the table.

But, the first period had been all about the Phantoms and Phoenix goalie Steve Fone. Peterborough, who had left the Fens at 10am in order to ensure they arrived in Manchester to get the game on, started much the stronger and took a seventh minute lead as former Phoenix forward Joe Miller netted from close range. The visitors continued to have the better of the period only for Fone in the home goal to keep them at bay with a number of quality saves.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand used the first interval to rally his squad and make some liners changes and the impact was dramatic as the home side equalised and took the lead within four minutes of the second period. Finn Jaakko Hagelberg pulled them level on a powerplay finishing off a move involving Courtenay and Andre Mattsson before Robert Lachowicz bagged his 12th goal of the season assisted by Greg Wood and Ryan Johnson. The Phantoms were stunned as the Phoenix looked to settle the outcome before the second break. Phoenix duly made their improvement pay further dividends when Adam Walker made it 24 for the season so far to make it 3-1 in the 32nd minute.

The third period saw the Phantoms mount a fightback and they were aided when Phoenix took two quick penalties, as Hagelberg and Hand were penalised. Peterborough used their timeout to determine their strategy and they reduced the arrears as Miller bagged his second of the game on the resulting two-man advantage. They then drew level in the 52nd minute with a short-handed strike from James Knight and the outcome was back in the balance. Phoenix responded barely 26 seconds later with Courtenay finishing a pass from Walker only for the visitors to again tie the score with James Morgan and take the game into the drama of the sudden death overtime.

Phoenix coach Tony Hand noted, "Peterborough gave us a battle tonight, they're much stronger now than they were earlier in the season and we had to dig deep. Foney made some big saves for us tonight, in fact both goalies played well. We needed those two points to keep us in touch and the news that the Lightning had lost was a bonus. Given the weather, I'd like to thank Peterborough for getting up to Manchester a big thank you to all the fans who turned out to see another nail-biter of a game."