The All In Black Milton Keynes Lightning suffered at 5-4 home loss to the Swindon Wildcats in their second game of the Streaming Series.
The result, however, is secondary for all involved as the games in the series are a test for how feasible playing a season of hockey in this country is and the effort it takes to put on these games is the main highlight from this game..
The Elite League, the top tier of hockey in the United Kingdom, as well as the Scottish National League, have all cancelled their 2020/21 seasons, but there is still hope that the NIHL National will be able to return for a season in early 2021, with the current three-team series a true test of its possibility.
The Lightning and Wildcats kicked off the series last weekend at the Link Centre in Swindon, battling out a high-scoring affair, with the home side earning an 8-6 victory.
The Milton Keynes club were given their first opportunity to host an ice hockey game for the first time in over eight months, with plenty of goals entertaining fans watching the live stream at home - with commentary from Lightning TV host Chris Dicko as well as club legend Nick Poole.
It didn't take long for the scoring to begin, with Bobby Chamberlain getting the first of his two points of the night after just over three minutes of play - assists coming from defencemen David Clements and Paul Swindlehurst.
It took the visitors five minutes to tie things up through Bálint Pákozdi, who brought the score to 1-1 with his unassisted effort after eight-and-a-half minutes.
The score remained as such entering the first intermission, but the second period saw the Lightning come out the better of the two sides and put themselves in a strong position to win the game.
Captain Russ Cowley scored after 32 minutes, with Chamberlain providing the assist, and the goals kept coming in speedy fashion from then on, with Robin Kovar extending the team's lead just over a minute later.
Swindon pulled the score back within one thanks to Sam Bullas a minute after that. The Wildcats had the man advantage on the goal thanks to a delayed penalty of Kovar for roughing allowed them to pulled goaltender Remy Marr.
Despite the gap closing, the Lightning continued to battle on and once again extended their lead to two when last season's top point producer Tomas Kana struck with just over two minutes left to go in the second, Cowley and Edward Knaggs providing the assists.
The third period saw the Lightning collapse, however, seeing Tomasz Malasinski add two goals, one coming 40 seconds into the period while the other proved to be powerplay game winner in the 53rd minute of play, sandwiching Bullas' second effort, his goal being well-worked around the Lightning area with former Milton Keynes player Glen Billing providing the primary assist along with Toms Rutkis.
While the Lightning coaches, Lewis Clifford and Ross Bowers, will be disappointed by the third period capitulation, the monumental effort to get hockey going again at this level outshines any result on the ice, and it will be truly appreciated by everyone involved to see the series progressing so well.
While the immediate future of the sport this season is still in question, the response from the fans and the fact that hockey is being played despite the circumstances is the true takeaway from this one and will be once again when the Sheffield Steeldogs come to town next Saturday (28th November).
