When Milton Keynes Lightning face Manchester Phoenix this Friday at the Thunderdome, it will mark the end of the season of goodwill and the resumption of a battle that started just before Christmas.  Lightning’s final game before the festive break saw them travel to Altrincham to face Phoenix on their own ice, Nick Poole’s men fighting back from a 2-0 deficit to restore parity with two Leigh Jamieson powerplay goals, before a brace from Martin Cingel kept the points in Cheshire.

After lifting the league title last year, the Phoenix have endured a difficult start to the 2011-12 season, currently sitting fifth in the league table – seven points adrift of Lightning in third, and 12 points behind leaders Guildford.   Arguably the low point of Manchester’s season to date came when Slough Jets put nine unanswered goals past Phoenix netminder Stephen Fone – just 24 hours before they recovered to beat Lightning at home.  MK player-coach Nick Poole said that the previous night’s whitewash arguably spurred on Phoenix to get the win.  “To lose by such a big margin would’ve been a huge shock to Manchester and they’ll all have wanted to put things right quickly, for their supporters and sponsors – so we probably caught the backlash of that big loss”, said Poole.  “There was also a place in the cup semi’s up for grabs, so combine the two things and they had immense pressure on them.  Even though we were missing three key players, we pushed them all the way– but the fact that Cingel still got three goals shows the quality of their imports, even though they lost Huppe and Kristoffersson in the summer.

“Games between Lightning and Manchester are never dull, so both groups of supporters have a lot to look forward to, as we’re scheduled to play three league games against them in five weeks.  It’ll be hurting them that they’re so far off the top of the table, but we’re going to make life difficult for them because we have points to prove as well.  When they come here on Friday that’s it – the period of goodwill is most definitely over!”

The home game against Manchester marks the start of a busy period for Lightning; on New Year’s Day they travel to league leaders Guildford Flames, and 24 hours later to the Link Centre to take on Swindon Wildcats.  Lightning’s roster will have had an 11 day gap between games, and Poole says he hopes his side will reap the benefits of a break that the Flames and Wildcats haven’t had.  “Flames played on Boxing Day and Wildcats the day after that, so they didn’t really get a break.  But we won’t be relying on them lacking energy – three games in four days will be tough for us, but we’ll be doing everything we can to give our supporters and sponsors a very happy new year”.

Lightning take on Manchester Phoenix at the Thunderdome at 7.00pm on Friday 30 December.  Supporters are advised to buy tickets in advance to avoid queuing on the night.  The team travels to Guildford on Sunday 1 January for a 4.00pm face-off, and the puck drops at the Link Centre on Monday 2 January at 5.45pm against Swindon Wildcats.