Cameron Hough scored a hat-trick, and Janne Laakinen had three assists as the Phantoms got revenge, winning 6-2 in Peterborough.
By Jake Clements
Despite opening the scoring midway through the second period, the Pitbulls conceded four unanswered goals and never recovered.
Max Wigfield gave the away side hope with a powerplay goal early in the third, but two more tallies from the Phantoms meant that on Superhero Weekend, the Villains had the last laugh.
An even first period saw chances at either end, with both North American netminders finding their top form to keep the scoreline goalless.
The Phantoms came closest to opening the scoring, but Tommy Nappier in the Pitbulls’ goal produced a stunning post-to-post save with the pad to keep the teams tied heading into the second.
The second period exploded into life inside three minutes.
Stunningly unselfish play from John Dunbar saw him skate to the goal side of the face-off circle before laying a pass to the back door for Caly Robertson to open the scoring.
Robertson was greeted with a wide open net, and he dutifully fired the puck into the goal for his second of the season in Pitbulls colours.
The Pitbulls, who were looking for their first four-point weekend of the season, were pegged back just under four minutes later.
Brad Bowering came blistering into the Pitbulls zone on the left-hand side. He passed it across the zone to Laakinen, who found the net past the stranded Nappier. There was nothing the Pitbulls’ imported netminder could do that time.
The veteran Finn, Laakinen, picked up his 4th of the season to pair with his assist tally that was rapidly approaching the 30 mark.
Just over a minute later the Pitbulls found themselves behind.
In what was beginning to feel like a repeat of the previous evening, Morgan Clarke-Pizzo took a beautiful pass from rookie Aidan-Jay Herring and beat Nappier high over his left shoulder.
It was Clarke-Pizzo’s second goal in two games, having scored the previous night in Bristol against his former employers.
A third goal came just 1 minute and 36 seconds later.
Laakinen found his captain, Luke Ferrara, inside the right face-off dot. The Pitbulls stood off the 2019-20 EIHL top goal scorer, and he made them pay.
Ferrara’s shot cannoned off the post into the back of Nappier and over the goal line to heap more misery on the Pitbulls.
Pitbulls head coach Ales Padalek had his jersey retired by the Phantoms in the offseason, but he wasn’t enjoying his return to his former home.
It was made even worse when his side turned the puck over on the power play, and Hough skated in alone on Nappier, and he deked to the backhand before roofing the puck past his fellow North American.
Having led 1-0 at the start of the period, the Pitbulls were trailing by three in a period that felt too similar to the one the night before.
Max Wigfield had the travelling fans on their feet inside the first minute of the third period.
The 25-year-old found a rebound in front and poked it past Lavigne, bringing them back within two with over 19 minutes left on the clock.
But the only person who would use the time left to his advantage would be the man from Uxbridge, Ontario. Cameron Hough.
Hough found his second of the game before the halfway point of the period. He calmly settled the puck before firing it past Nappier, reaching 20 goals on the season in the process.
His 21st of the year sent the Pitbulls home with their tails between their legs. Nappier made the initial save, but Hough never gave up on the puck and found twine, completing his hat-trick.
The Pitbulls failed to meaningfully test Lavigne in the closing seven minutes, resulting in a 6-2 win for the home Phantoms.
Having picked up a point last night, the Phantoms increased their points tally to three across the weekend, extending the gap between them and the away side.
The Pitbulls finish the weekend in 9th, five points off of Romford in the final playoff spot.
The Pitbulls next face the Basingstoke Bison on home ice next Saturday at 7pm.
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