Ice hockey fans were treated to a battle royale on Saturday night as the chief protagonists in the ENL title race fought out a 3-3 draw in front of a packed Ryde Arena.
Both teams came out of the blocks flying and provided an absorbing first period of hockey which amazingly ended goalless.
The second period continued the momentum with two fights, a melee by the penalty box, and then two goals in quick succession.
It was Wightlink Raiders who struck first through Dom Hopkins, before Invicta debutante Jack Tarczycki scored the first of two goals to level the game at 1-1.
Gorrie and Murray surge forwards
The third period started with as much intensity as the first two and it was the home team who surged ahead with Jason Gorrie and man of the match Alex Murray putting the Raiders 3-1 up.
Within a minute the Dynamos were back in the hunt through Corey Watkins before a controversial late penalty saw Tarczycki strike the third on the powerplay with 1.01 left on the clock.
So a 3-3 draw leaves the title race wide open and means Invicta Dynamos will lead the league by one point if they win their two games in hand on the Raiders.
Next weekend
Next opponents for the Raiders are the fifth placed Streatham Redskins who always bring a noisy crowd with them. Face off at Ryde Arena on Saturday is at the usual time of 6pm.
On Sunday the Raiders travel to Oxford one of only two teams to beat them on the road this season.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Nicky Craft
