The Cardiff Huskies moved up into second place in the British Para Ice Hockey League table after a 5-0 home victory over Sheffield Steelstings, in what was the last league game of the season for both teams.
After
a goal-less first period, two strikes in the second and three in the third secured
the win for the defending champions.
Tyler
Christopher scored 2 for the Huskies and Shannon Couch, Dani Czernuszka-Watts
and Josh Davies all added one goal apiece.
The
Shots On Goal count was 42-1, with Steelstings netminder Bryan Hackworth doing well
to stop 37 of the 42 shots that he faced. In the Huskies net, Nicole Hill picked
up a 1-shot shut-out – her first clean sheet of the season.
The
Manchester Mayhem’s home game against Peterborough Phantoms that was scheduled
to be played on Saturday had to be cancelled because of a technical fault that
saw the Widnes rink closed for much of the week.
Following
Cardiff’s win on Saturday, the Huskies have now moved above Peterborough into
second place in the league table. The Phantoms are 2 points behind but have two
games in hand.
The
Mayhem have yet to play Peterborough this season and will travel down to East
Anglia on 9th August for their last regular-schedule game of the season.
Peterborough
need two points from their two games against the Mayhem to clinch second place
and it is hoped that the cancelled home game can be re-arranged but, with the
Widnes rink having been closed and ice time slots at a premium with other teams
also needing to reschedule games, it may be difficult to find a suitable
date.
The
situation is complicated by the fact that players and staff from both teams
will be involved in the inaugural Women’s Para Ice Hockey World Championships,
which will be held in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia, from 26th to 31st
August - so the domestic league season needs to be brought to a close before
then.
