The Flames are doused as Phantoms turn on the style

Ice hockey - A Sunday night to savour as Slava’s boys bounce back from their Hull horror show

If Carslberg did ice hockey performances . . .

Inspired netminding, resolute defending and ruthless attacking added up to a Sunday night to savour at Planet Ice.

These days it is not even a surprise when Phantoms put bigger, wealthier opponents to the sword. It has become commonplace during the revival of recent seasons.

And perhaps they should lose to the worst team in the league more often if they are going to produce this sort of response against one of the best sides to grace the English Premier League.

Any fears of a hangover from their shock setback in Hull the previous weekend were soon eased as Ales Padelek broke the deadlock inside a minute and captain James Ferrara rifled in on a powerplay later in the opening session.

Guildford went on to dominate the game for long periods but they encountered a stubborn Phantoms defen- sive corps backed up by a brilliant Janis Auzins.

The Flames did eventually halve their arrears when Kevin Phillips pounced on a powerplay rebound just after the mid-point of the match and only the best of Auzins’ many fine saves then denied them a leveller.

But Phantoms gave themselves breathing space when Edgars Bebris powered home a low drive just under three minutes before the buzzer and they snuffed out any threat of a Flames fightback by striking 30 seconds into the final session.

Padelek burst onto the puck and fired past Guildford goalie Gregg Rockman in a one-on-one situation only seconds after Gibson had steered an equally presentable chance wide.

And the Flames were well and truly extinguished when Darius Pliskauskas applied the icing to the cake with an outrageous spin and finish in the closing stages.

“We have had a few good performances this season and this is right up there with the best of them,” said coach Slava Koulikov.

“We played well in all areas. Our netminder was excellent, the defensive work in front of him was very good and the forwards did their job with the goals.”