Storm back into top four with shootout win

Photo: Mark Ferris

Manchester Storm and Guildford Flames gave their fans a thriller in Altrincham on Boxing Day, going through 65 minutes and a shootout to decide a winner.

12:07 was on the clock when Samuel Tremblay blased Storm ahead, and it took him a little over three and a half minutes to double his team's lead with the finish off a loose puck rolling into the slot. Marcus Tesink's shot from the blue line was tipped in front of Alex Oldale to halve the deficit at 18:04, but Tyler Hinam's top-shelf finish beat Taz Burman on the powerplay with eight seconds left in the opening period to put the Storm 3-1 ahead.

Bradley Lalonde brought the Flames back to within one at 30:11 in a middle period dominated by penalties, the majority of which were on the home side. 

Manchester had two man-advantages of their own to increase their lead in period three, but having not taken advantage they then saw Lewis Hook tie the game with 6:08 to play. 

Overtime was needed to separate the teams, and it was the Flames who came closest to taking the extra point, hitting both the crossbar and a post as Oldale's net lived a charmed life.

The Storm goalie, however, was to earn his third straight win in the shootout. Oldale stopped three Flames shots with Joe Morrow scoring the decider for Storm in Round 5 to earn the hosts the bonus point.