The Storm faithful, adorned in pink rink attire, bore witness to another home victory on this occasion over the Guildford Flames, as they claimed a 4–1 win in Friday night’s encounter.

An entertaining opening period saw both benches rolling early on, in a largely whistle-free passage of play. The first goal of the game came in favour of the visiting Flames, as Preziuso was quickest to react to a big rebound off the pads of DeRidder in the ninth minute.

Storm responded swiftly with a levelling goal on the power play. The silky Welshman on the blue line sold the shot from the point, and the ever-aggressive Fazio, between the pipes for Guildford, took the bait on this occasion, leaving enough net to aim at from a tight angle for the franchise’s top goalscorer, Gilmour, to finish with ease. Manchester struck again with the man advantage, as Cutler rifled a terrific effort over the shoulder of the Flames’ netminder and into the top shelf with just 24 seconds remaining in the first period.

The second period got off to the perfect start from a Storm perspective, as they quickly added their third of the match. A smart, heads-up play from Ergang saw him drive the net and bank an effort off the goaltender, with the rebound falling kindly for Ulett, who crashed the crease to convert from point-blank range. At the midway point, a wonderful windmilling glove save by DeRidder denied Nixon, who looked to the heavens in disbelief as he became the latest to fall victim to the Elite League’s leading netminder. A couple of minor penalties were assessed against the Flames in the latter stages of the period, but Manchester were unable to fashion any notable scoring chances on the power play.

The final period saw Storm adopt a defence-first mentality, with continued impressive performances from the blue-line group ably backstopped by DeRidder, denying Guildford any route back into the contest. The visitors briefly thought they had pulled one back in the 57th minute, but a video review quickly dispelled any hope, with the officials signalling no goal. Paul Dixon called his netminder to the bench moments later, but it proved in vain. Jacome, attempting to force the issue, unfortunately turned the puck into his own net, with Hinam credited for the goal as the last Storm player to touch the puck. To ensure both points would stay in Manchester in a crucial match for play-off positions. 

Words by: Callum Schora