Swindon Wildcats returned from their week off with a four-point weekend thanks to two late second period goals from Aaron Nell as they sealed a tight 5-4 win against the Rightmove MK Thunder.
With Aaron Nell back in the line-up after returning from the Team GB U20 tournament in Estonia the Cats were boosted on one hand but did go into the game without Sam Bullas. The Wildcats started brightly and at 04:48 they found themselves a goal up.
Loris Taylor fed the puck through for Max Birbraer to skate onto, the league’s top scorer then moved in on goal and fired the puck down low past Jordan Lawday to open the scoring. However, the lead was short-lived when at 06:58 Ross Bowers pounced on some loose defending to tie the game up at one with a nice unassisted goal.
Again the Wildcats would retake the lead when Floyd Taylor converted a powerplay chance. Jonas Hoog and Edgars Bebris linked up to find the young forward free in front of the net where he had enough time to pick his spot and fire past Lawday.
As the period was coming to a close though, another MK goal was chalked up on the board. New signing Joe Edwards and Gareth O’Flaherty combined to find Hallden Barnes-Garner who was able to fire the puck past Renny Marr from a very tight angle. The buzzer sounded on the opening period and the Wildcats went into the break tied at 2.
Into the middle period and the Thunder managed to get the go ahead goal early on at 21:03. Ross Bowers again proving to be the thorn in the Wildcats side when he raced onto a loose puck behind the Wildcats D and shot high past Marr to make it 3-2. The assists going to Jamie Line and Trevor LeBlanc.
At 27:22 a moment for all Wildcats fans and players to savour when Aaron Nell fed a long stretch pass to young Eliot Randall who’d just come out of the penalty box. The young Welsh forward skated hard on net and sniped a shot through Lawday to score his first goal for the Wildcats and his first senior goal, and to bring the Cats level at 3.
The last 5 minutes of the second period is where the action really happened. Firstly, MK forward Sam Talbot was assessed a 5+G penalty for high sticks after catching Loris Taylor with his stick. On the resulting penalty the Wildcats pounced. Chris Jones fed a puck across the crease to Aaron Nell who slammed the puck home on a one-timer to give the Cats the single goal lead.
Less than a minute later, Max Birbraer was awarded a 5+G penalty for slew-footing meaning the Wildcats would play the final period with just the one import. As the MK Thunder took a bench minor penalty for too many men, timed at 39:40 the Wildcats were able to score another goal with just 8 seconds remaining in the period. Chris Jones once again found Aaron Nell who was able to fire low past Lawday and make it 3-5 as we finally entered the second period break.
After the busy end to the second, the break quietened things down a bit and the Wildcats set about playing 20 minutes of hockey that would seal a four-point weekend. However, Mk to their credit refused to die down and at 52:49, that man again Ross Bowers was able to complete his hat-trick. Jamie Line and Trevor LeBlanc once again provided the assists as the Thunder came within one goal on the night.
The Wildcats defended will and killed off a couple of late penalties before the final buzzer did finally sound and the points would be returning with Aaron Nell and his men before a hug weekend next time out where we take on the Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday before travelling to Romford to take on the Raiders.
