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Trip to Wiltshire and home to Milton Keynes next up for Phoenix

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J Davidson sponsored Manchester Phoenix will head to Swindon on Saturday to face the Wildcats as they aim to put last Sunday’s disappointment behind them. Phoenix have faced Swindon twice so far this season, recording a 4-0 win in Swindon and a closer 3-2 victory at home after coming from 2-0 down early in the game.

The Wildcats have one of Britain’s finest netminders between the pipes in Stevie Lyle. Although not putting up the figures he did last season with Basingstoke, he is still a tough nut to crack when he is on form. Alex Symonds joined their blue line at the beginning of the season from Basingstoke and he is joined by import Aku Pekkarinen. Jan Melichar is also on the books but has not played so far this season.

Up front Ryan Watt has been drafted in from Slough and his tough type of game is a boost to the Wildcats. Scoring comes from Jonas Hoog with 13 goals, Henri Sandvik, 12 and brand new import Jan Kostal, who has hit 4 goals and 4 assists in his first 3 games.

On Sunday, Phoenix face Nick Poole’s Milton Keynes Lightning at the Dome with the usual 1730hrs face off.  The teams have faced each other twice so far this season and Phoenix have come out on top on both occasions. A 3-1 win in Lightning’s temporary home in Coventry was followed by a feisty 4-3 win at the Dome.

Youngster Jordan Hedley and the more experienced Stephen Wall are between the pipes for MK and the blue line is again led by Lukas Zatopek and Michael Farn, the latter having a stand out season with 23 points so far. Up front the goals are coming from Janne Jokila (11), Stanislav Lascek (16), Leigh Jamieson(11) and Tom Carlon(12).  Lightning have certainly upped the physical side of their game this season but are paying for it with a plethora of penalty minutes. Grant McPherson has 90, Tom Carlon 58 and Lukas Zatopek 50 so far this season.

Phoenix were desperately disappointed with their game in Bracknell last Sunday and they will be raring to go out and pick up the points at the weekend.

Coach Hand commented:

"It was disappointing only to take two points last week and we will be going all out for a better weekend this time out. Swindon will be a tough ask in their rink with the larger ice surface and Milton Keynes always give us a competitive task. We are getting plenty of shots on goal but we need to convert them at key times in games."