Phil Edgar. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors achieved a 6-5 overtime win against local rivals Billingham Stars at The Forum on Sunday evening to lead NIHL North 1 with 9 points from 5 league games.
Making the short trip with twenty skaters and netminders Richie Lawson and Rory Dunn at their disposal, the Warriors found themselves up against a strong Billingham line-up which included Czech forwards Daniel Silar and Tomáš Rubeš, forward James Moss and Captain Michael Elder.
The opening stages of the contest saw Whitley gauge the proficiency of netminder Mark Watson with some early shots on goal before the Warriors lost forward Callum Watson to the sin bin for a late hit on 1:18. Just over a minute into their penalty kill, Whitley were reduced to three skaters when Callum Queenan joined his teammate in the penalty box after a hooking offence. Though up against Rubeš’ tricky offensive work as the Stars tried to make the most of their 5-on-3 power play, the Warriors repeatedly cleared the danger from their zone. Following this successful penalty kill, Whitley’s ill-discipline continued, this time defenceman Harry Harley sidelined for slashing. The visitors remained effective and were awarded some reprieve as Billingham picked up a penalty just as Harley returned to the ice, the Stars guilty of icing too many men on 7:45. Aiming to capitalise, Canadian forward Phil Edgar danced through Billingham’s defence to no avail before Harley raced down the wing in possession to unleash a snappy shot which Mark Watson caught. Some neat play deep in the Stars’ defensive zone then allowed hardworking forward Ross Murray to play the puck from behind Watson’s net to Edgar who executed superbly on the power play from a tight angle on 9:21. Gaining momentum on the back of this goal, the Warriors sought to test Mark Watson more frequently and the game grew tempestuous as a result, forwards Murray and Jordan Barnes clashing with Moss. An elbowing offence from Player-Coach David Longstaff then left Whitley shorthanded again but the Stars could not make the most of their additional skater and the Warriors maintained their work ethic to score their second a little over two minutes after returning to full strength, Edgar playing the puck to defenceman Craig Johnson who rocketed a shot beyond Mark Watson to give his side a 2-0 lead going into the second period.
Setting out to add to the scoreboard early in the middle stanza, the Warriors employed the highly effective line of Edgar, Murray and Queenan to secure a third goal and it took just under three minutes into the period for some clever play between Murray and Edgar to pay off, the latter beating Mark Watson to claim his second of the evening. Shortly afterwards, a hooking penalty for Stars’ Player-Coach Michael Bowman handed Whitley a power play and the side endeavoured to capitalise but without success. Whitley were then left to rue this missed opportunity when forward Callum Watson was punished for a holding offence. Sixty seconds later, Alternate Captain Callum Davies unleashed a low shot which slipped past Whitley’s defence and beneath Lawson to make it 3-1 on 32:04. It then took just fifty one seconds for Billingham to reduce their deficit to a single goal as Silar raced into his offensive zone to play the puck to forward Craig Thurston who fired home for 3-2. Soon after, the Warriors found themselves on the back foot yet again when ‘D’ man Liam Smedley was shown to the sin bin for hooking on 35:18. Thirty three seconds later, Billingham equalised, Rubeš making the most of a pass from Moss to cancel out their visitors’ three-goal lead. Spurred into action by this turn of events, left winger Ben Campbell went clear of the Stars’ defence only to trip. Recovering his balance, the left winger got to his feet to fire a shot at Watson who made a comfortable save. Showing belief in their ability to win the contest, Billingham sought out a fourth goal, testing Lawson with some speculative shots before the break. As the buzzer called time on the period, several players found themselves involved in a fracas which gradually dissipated to allow the teams to file from the ice with three goals apiece.
Beginning the third period with a view to edge ahead of their rivals, the Warriors worked tirelessly in offence and some neat link-up play gave the side the confidence they needed to make it 4-3 as Longstaff found Ben Campbell who swiftly surpassed Mark Watson on 44:33. A hooking penalty for defenceman Darren Stattersfield then gave the Warriors the perfect opportunity to establish a two-goal cushion as Harley fired a long range shot at netminder Mark Watson whose pad save allowed Ben Campbell his second goal from the rebound on 49:10. The Stars were by no means ready to give up on the points and continued to work hard to try their luck against Lawson who pulled off some fantastic saves to keep his side ahead. However, Billingham’s efforts eventually paid off, Rubeš playing the puck across to Elder who had enough time and space to execute on 53:40 as the Warriors scrambled to get back into position. With Whitley’s lead once again fragile, forward Murray tried to re-establish his team’s two-goal cushion by attempting to free the puck from Mark Watson’s glove after his shot was saved. This provoked a furious response from defenceman Matthew Campbell who bundled the Warrior to the ice. Though Murray took a penalty for slashing as a result, Campbell was also punished for roughing, meaning two minutes of 4-on-4 ice hockey played out. Holding onto their narrow 5-4 lead was always going to prove difficult for Whitley, not least as their rivals called a timeout on 57:48 and opted to pull netminder Watson to allow for the additional skater. As play resumed, Harley gained possession in Whitley’s defensive zone but his long range shot could not find the Stars’ empty net and Barnes subsequently struggled to pounce on the stationary puck in his offensive zone, missing a great opportunity to secure his team’s victory. As such, it was little surprise when Billingham levelled the scoring on 58:25 after some frantic play in front of Lawson’s net allowed Thurston to tap the puck home to make it 5-5 and thereby take the contest into overtime.
With Whitley keen to grab an overtime winner having failed to score in their previous overtime periods against Solway Sharks and Sutton Sting, Ben Campbell sought possession on the wing but repeatedly lost control of the puck to Billingham’s defence. Countering, Rubeš appeared particularly threatening for the Stars but some sharp netminding from Lawson kept the puck at bay. Moss then came incredibly close to claiming an overtime winner for the home side which prompted Longstaff to send Edgar and Queenan back onto the ice and the duo were not short of opportunities to find the net, Edgar firing at Mark Watson and collecting his rebounded shot which was still not enough to defeat the netminder. Exasperated, the Warriors called a timeout at just the right moment and returned to the ice with renewed vigour. Keeping possession in the Stars’ defensive zone, Edgar collected the puck and unleashed a game-winning shot to award his team both points with a 6-5 overtime win.
Stats
Shots on goal
Stars: 29
Warriors: 37
Points
Stars:
Craig Thurston (2+1), Tomáš Rubeš (1+3), Michael Elder (1+0), Callum Davies (1+0), James Moss (0+2), Daniel Silar (0+1)
Warriors:
Phil Edgar (3+1), Ben Campbell (2+0), Craig Johnson (1+0), David Longstaff (0+2), Ross Murray (0+2), Harry Harley (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Stars: 8
Warriors: 14
Man of the Match
Stars: Mark Watson
Warriors: Ben Campbell