Milton Keynes Lightning won 5-3 at Bristol Pitbulls, with two power-play goals and strikes from Carter Hamill and David Thomson 41 seconds apart in the third period. The post Match Report: Bristol Pitbulls 3-5 – Milton Keynes Lightning | 27 September 2026 appeared first on Milton Keynes Lightning Ice Hockey.
Bristol Pitbulls 3-5 – Milton Keynes Lightning: two power-play goals helped Lightning establish a lead before Carter Hamill and David Thomson scored 41 seconds apart in the third period to secure the NIHL National win at Planet Ice Bristol on 27 September. Bristol twice brought the deficit back to one goal, but Lightning answered each time to take two points away from home.
With Ben Norton in goal for Bristol Pitbulls and Jordan Hedley in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning, Carter Hamill received two minutes for slashing at 01:36, giving Bristol the first power play. It was Lightning who scored during the penalty, though: Thomson struck shorthanded at 03:28 to put the visitors 1-0 ahead. Their next goal came with the skater advantage. Bristol’s Jarvis Hunt was given two minutes for slashing at 12:23, and Hamill scored on the power play at 13:58, assisted by Bradey Johnson and Kell Beattie. Lightning led 2-0, having scored once while a player short and once while a player up.
The Pitbulls responded quickly. Jake Bricknell scored from Sam Smith’s assist at 15:05, just 67 seconds after Hamill’s goal, to cut Lightning’s lead to 2-1. That was the score at the first interval. Lightning had recorded 21 shots on goal to Bristol’s 10 in the opening 20 minutes, but Bricknell’s reply meant the hosts remained within a goal.
Neither side scored in the early part of the middle period. Bristol’s Jacob White-Sey received two minutes for interference at 28:59, but Lightning’s next goal came on a later power play. Sean Morris was penalised for slashing at 32:44, and Johnson scored 12 seconds later from Hamill and Beattie to restore the visitors’ two-goal lead at 3-1. Beattie had assisted on both of Lightning’s power-play goals, while Hamill had a goal and an assist across those two opportunities.
Liam Stewart served two minutes for tripping from 36:21 without a change to the score. Lightning reached the second interval 3-1 ahead after the teams had recorded 11 shots apiece in that period. Bristol still had time to close the gap, and Bobby Ragan did so at 41:05. His goal, assisted by Dylan Stewart and John Dunbar, made it 3-2 with most of the final period remaining.
A minute later, Harry Gulliver and Bristol’s Harvey Wooldridge received five-minute fighting majors at 42:06. Joshua Shaw was also given two minutes for boarding at the same time. Those calls were distinct from Lightning’s next goal: Hamill scored at even strength at 44:35, assisted by Milique Martelly, to put the visitors 4-2 ahead. It was Hamill’s second goal of the game, arriving three and a half minutes after Ragan had brought Bristol within one.
Lightning extended the lead almost immediately. Thomson scored his second at 45:16, with Danny Weight and Archie Hazeldine assisting, to make it 5-2. The two even-strength goals had taken the game from a one-goal margin to a three-goal margin in just 41 seconds. Hamill finished with two goals and an assist, Thomson with two goals, and Johnson with a goal and an assist. Each had played a part in establishing the lead before that decisive third-period pair.
Bristol continued to look for a reply and recorded 15 shots on goal in the third period to Lightning’s 19. Hunt reduced the deficit at 55:51, assisted by Dunbar and Tanner Butler. That left 4:09 to play and brought the score to 5-3, but the Pitbulls did not score again. Lightning’s quick response to Ragan’s goal had given them the margin to withstand Hunt’s late reply and complete a second NIHL National win in two days, following the previous day’s home win over Romford.
Source: Official NIHL National gamesheet.
Scoring summary
MK Lightning: Carter Hamill 2+1, David Thomson 2+0, Bradey Johnson 1+1, Kell Beattie 0+2, Danny Weight 0+1, Archie Hazeldine 0+1, Milique Martelly 0+1.
Bristol Pitbulls: Jake Bricknell 1+0, Jarvis Hunt 1+0, Bobby Ragan 1+0, John Dunbar 0+2, Dylan Stewart 0+1, Tanner Butler 0+1, Sam Smith 0+1.
The post Match Report: Bristol Pitbulls 3-5 – Milton Keynes Lightning | 27 September 2026 appeared first on Milton Keynes Lightning Ice Hockey.
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