Bristol Pitbulls held their nerve to beat Telford Tigers 6-5 after overtime at Planet Ice Bristol on Saturday evening, ending a run of three defeats with a performance of extraordinary attacking intent. Jake Bricknell scored the overtime winner at 61:38 — John Dunbar and Tanner Butler assisting — to cap a match that produced eleven goals, six lead changes, and a first-period goalscoring sequence that defied belief.
Seven goals in nineteen minutes. Telford's starting goalkeeper replaced at the first intermission. A second-period power play goal that briefly gave the visitors the lead at 4-4. And a final-period equaliser from Dunbar that forced overtime before Bricknell finished it. As evenings go at Planet Ice Bristol, they do not come much more dramatic than this.
Seven goals before the break — neither side able to pull clear
The match exploded from the opening minute. Rose gave Telford the lead at 1:11 — Howells and Patrick Brown assisting. Morris equalised for Bristol at 1:57 from Harewood's assist. McKenzie made it 2-1 to Telford at 5:05, Ferguson and Oliver helping, before Lipsey restored parity at 11:49 — Bricknell and Dunbar assisting — in the first of several combinations those three would produce across the evening.
Hamill put Bristol 3-2 ahead at 13:22 — Harewood and Ragan assisting — before Ferguson levelled again for Telford at 14:13 from Rose and Henderson. That made it 3-3. With just under a minute of the period remaining, Butler struck for Bristol at 19:01 from Dunbar and Lipsey — at the same moment Telford replaced their starting goalkeeper Ben Norton with Brad Day between the pipes. Bristol led 4-3 at the break, but with five goals having already been scored by the visitors, nobody in the building could have felt comfortable.
Thomson's power play goal at 26:01 from Henderson's assist — after Lipsey was penalised for tripping at 25:01 — made it 4-4, and Shudra's hooking penalty at 31:29 gave Bristol a chance to restore their lead that they couldn't convert. Patrick Brown put Telford ahead at 35:47 from McPhee's assist, making it 5-4 to the visitors and leaving Bristol needing a response in the final period.
Dunbar provided it at 51:17 — Bricknell and Lipsey assisting — to make it 5-5, and the Dunbar-Bricknell-Lipsey combination that had been central to Bristol's attack throughout the match was at it again. The third period had lasted barely eleven minutes of actual scoring before overtime was required.
In overtime, Bricknell took the decisive touch at 61:38 — Dunbar and Butler assisting — to complete a remarkable evening's work and send the 1,498 home crowd home with two points. The Dunbar-Bricknell partnership produced two of Bristol's six goals directly and threaded through the assists on several more.
Tommy Nappier in the Bristol goal had a busy evening, conceding five before earning the overtime win. Brad Day, who came on for Telford at the first intermission, conceded twice in regulation and once in overtime.
A significant result for Bristol
Coming into this match on three successive defeats — including two heavy losses to Milton Keynes — this is exactly the kind of result Bristol needed. The character shown in coming back from 5-4 down to force overtime, and then winning it, is a different side to the one that shipped eight goals at home to MK last weekend. Telford, meanwhile, who had won three of their last four coming in, will be frustrated to have led twice in the third period equivalent and still come away empty-handed.