Telford Tigers' comeback falls short in home defeat to Milton Keynes Lightning as second team suffer cup final heartbreak
Telford Tigers suffered back-to-back defeats to mid-table rivals Milton Keynes Lightning.
Telford began the weekend four points clear of Lightning, but ended it level on 50 points after a late 6-4 loss at the Telford Ice Rink on Sunday.
That followed an 8-2 defeat in Buckinghamshire on Saturday night.
Milton Keynes made a blistering start, racing into a two-goal lead. Mac Howlett opened the scoring after just 92 seconds before Janne Jokinen doubled the advantage less than a minute later.
Brynley Capps quickly responded for Telford, but there was another flurry of goals before the end of the first period. Toms Rutkis added Lightning's fourth before Howlett grabbed his second.
Harry Ferguson kept Telford within reach, reducing the deficit to 4-2 heading into the second period.
During a tight second period, Ferguson struck again to pull Telford to within one. David Thomson then completed the comeback, scoring six minutes into the final period to level the game at 4-4.
However, after Thomson was sin-binned twice in the final 10 minutes, Jokinen netted Lightning’s fifth before Howlett completed his hattrick to seal Milton Keynes’ victory.
Tigers had won four of their previous five NIHL National Division clashes heading into the weekend.
They remain sixth in the standings with 21 wins from 46 games so far, and host Romford Raiders on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Telford Tigers 2 suffered heartbreak in the Moralee Cup final, losing to the Deeside Dragons.
Tigers 2 were beaten 6-5 at the Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday night, falling 15-12 on aggregate after Saturday’s first-leg defeat in Telford, as they narrowly missed out on the Division One North Cup.
