Pitbulls Skate Away With The Points In A Tense Shootout Win

By Xanthe Boursier-Gazzard

The Bristol Drive North Pitbulls celebrated a shootout win against the Peterborough Phantoms in the Pound on Saturday night that saw the Pitbulls play catch-up following a slow second period that allowed the visitors to score five unanswered goals, applying pressure to the home team for the final twenty minutes to restore the scoreline.

Heading into the game, the team continued to be without Jacob White-Sey through injury; however, they saw the addition of Bayley Harewood back into the lineup for the weekend.

The Pitbulls dominated puck possession in the first period, with three consecutive goals coming from the home team in the opening twenty minutes. Jake Bricknell racked up two in quick succession, sweeping a pass from John Dunbar past the left side of Hayden Lavigne to get the first, followed by a slapshot fired to the back of the net just thirty seconds later that doubled the scoreline. Shots followed from Morgan Clarke-Pizzo and Louie Kynaston for the Phantoms; however, they were unable to create the finish, leaving Rhys Smetham to extend the Pitbulls’ lead, skating past the pads of Lavigne and launching the puck high beyond his reach.

Phantoms battled back in the second period, tallying up five unanswered goals, putting them in the lead for the first time throughout the game. Three goals came back to back within the first five minutes, equalising the scoreline as Dillon Lawrence, Cam Hough and top point scorer for the Phantoms Luke Ferrara all successfully applied their chances on net, putting the Phantoms comfortably back in the game. The Pitbulls were able to kill two penalties following this as they played five-on-three for a short duration; however, despite this, the pressure from the Phantoms continued to build as former Pitbull Clarke-Pizzo put the away team in the lead with their fourth goal, followed by Kynaston giving them the two-goal cushion heading into the final period.

The home side began the third with the man advantage as Brad Bowering received a tripping penalty in the last few seconds of the previous period, allowing Dunbar to lower the deficit. As the Phantoms returned to full strength, the Pitbulls continued to push for the equaliser, and it was Bricknell who was able to deliver, not only putting them back in the game but also scoring his hat-trick goal of the evening. End-to-end action continued after this with powerplay opportunities presented to both teams in the remainder of regulation time; however, as the clock swiftly ran down, overtime was to be underway shortly. 

Bricknell, Dunbar and Butler got the start for the extra minutes; however, as both teams chased the puck up the lengths of the ice, both Lavigne and Nappier held their own, leaving the scoreline at 5-5, taking the game to shootouts. Both teams missed their first two shots, leaving the third to be crucial. Lawrence stepped up to take the third penalty shot for the Phantoms and was left with the puck held under the glove of Nappier, putting the pressure on the Pitbulls to get this final shot to take away the two points. Harewood took the third shot, weaving the puck past Lavigne, flicking a shot backhanded above his pads as he went in for the save, giving the home team the two points they had been hoping for.

Man of the Match for the visitors went to Morgan Clarke-Pizzo and to netminder Tommy Nappier for your Bristol Pitbulls.