Milton Keynes Lightning's remarkable five-game winning run came to an abrupt end at Planet Ice Milton Keynes on Saturday evening, as Basingstoke Bison produced a resilient away performance to win 5-4 in overtime. Zack Milton's power play goal at 61:50 — Brendan Sellan assisting — settled the match after Mac Howlett was penalised for tripping just over a minute into overtime, handing Basingstoke the chance they needed.

The match had everything: a goalkeeper change for MK in the second period, a mass brawl at 35:45 involving fights, boarding and unsportsmanlike conduct, offsetting penalties that produced a brief net advantage for Basingstoke, and a final twenty minutes in which MK twice took the lead only for Bison to keep pulling them back. A 2,460 home crowd expecting another comfortable home win will have been left stunned.

Basingstoke lead, MK turn it around in the second

Harding gave Basingstoke the lead at 6:47 in the first period — Spadafora and Sellan assisting — and the visitors went into the first break ahead. The second period began with MK's starting goalkeeper Jordan Hedley remaining in net, but at 24:00 his net went empty and Hedley was replaced by a second goalkeeper — suggesting injury or a tactical move — before returning at 24:15 as Brendan Baird was simultaneously penalised for holding. That early power play went unconverted.

Sampford made it 2-0 for Basingstoke at 29:54 — Wilson and Morris assisting — and Hemmings-Maher added a third at 33:54 from Morris to make it 3-0. Lightning's task looked considerable. Spadafore was penalised for roughing at 25:25 in between, giving Basingstoke another power play they couldn't convert, but Bison were firmly in control.

What happened next transformed the second period entirely. At 35:45, a fight broke out between Kelly (MK, five-minute major) and Cathcart (BAS, five-minute major), with Wilson simultaneously penalised for boarding and Basingstoke picking up three penalties at 36:50 — Cochrane for roughing, Wright for slashing, and Sellan's 0-minute minor for hooking — alongside Griffin's unsportsmanlike conduct for MK. The complexity of the offsetting penalties left MK with a net power play advantage once the dust settled.

Gulliver scored for MK on the power play at 36:50 — Forsberg and Howlett assisting — to make it 3-1. Wright's diving/embellishment call at 39:42 then gave MK another power play but Rutkis scored at 37:25 from Gabaj and Salisbury to make it 3-2 just before the break, Sellan's hooking minor being the precipitating penalty. Going into the third period, MK trailed 2-3 but with the momentum having swung sharply in their favour.

Jokinen made it 3-3 at 44:16 from Spadafore and Norris, and Grinnell-Parke put MK ahead for the first time at 46:53 — Gabaj and Forsberg assisting — to make it 4-3. Bison called their timeout at 49:33, regrouped, and when Gabaj and Cathcart were penalised simultaneously for cross-checking at 50:43, the offsetting minors kept the game even. Cochrane equalised at 52:59 from Milton's assist to make it 4-4, and the match headed to overtime.

In overtime, Howlett's tripping penalty at 61:05 handed Basingstoke the advantage — and Milton converted at 61:50 from Sellan's assist to complete a remarkable away comeback and end MK's winning run at five.

Hedley was solid in the MK net for most of the match, his brief mid-game withdrawal notwithstanding. Max Wright started in the Basingstoke goal, picking up two penalties himself during the evening — a curious evening for a goalkeeper.

Form context

MK came in having won five straight — beating Bristol twice, Romford, Peterborough and Telford. This defeat ends that run but takes nothing away from what had been an impressive spell. Basingstoke, by contrast, arrived on three defeats in four, including two to Romford, and this is a significant away result that keeps them competitive in the division.