Leeds Knights 7 Swindon Wildcats 3 - Knights keep NIHL National double dream alive with Coventry show-stopper

Throughout the regular season there had been little between these two teams but at the SkyDome Arena on Saturday afternoon in the first of the play-off semi-finals, the Knights were superior in almost every way.

Forging ahead 4-0 inside 10 minutes, the Knights ensured that the Wildcats were forever playing catch-up.

The Wiltshire side gave themselves hope by pulling it back to 4-2 before the end of the first period, but the Knights killed the game in the early part of the second and had a moment of brilliance from captain Kieran Brown and a Matt Barron strike to be thankful for as they pressed home their advantage.

There was a late, third-period reply from Colby Tower for Swindon, but an empty-net strike from Mac Howlett ensured a comfortable margin of victory.

As starts go, it could not have gone any better for the Knights, breaking the deadlock early on and blasting themselves into a 4-0 lead inside 10 minutes.

The move that created the first goal was originated by Brown, driving down the right before laying off to Howlett behind him.

His effort could only be fumbled by Renny Marr, the puck breaking loose in front of the net where defenceman Noah McMullin was quickest to react and force it home at 2.44.

Sam Gospel was called into action for the first time at the other end when denying Chris Jones from close range in the seventh minute and then smothering a Russ Cowley effort shortly after.

But the game was turned on its head in a frantic two minutes during which the Knights plundered three further goals to leave the Wildcats reeling.

Again it was the Brown-Howlett combination that saw the Knights double their lead, the Leeds’ skipper again driving down the right before laying off to his line-mate, who this time quickly opted to dart across to the top of the left circle from where his quickfire shot proved too hard for Marr to handle at 8.03.

Just 48 more seconds had elapsed when the Knights went further ahead.

Gospel had twice denied the Wildcats when shots came at him through traffic before Leeds suddenly found themselves on a 3-on-1 heading the other way, the puck eventually finding its way across to Jake Witkowski at the top of the right circle from where he fired an unstoppable blast past Marr’s right shoulder at 8.51.

A timeout was understandably called by Swindon but, after they returned, they quickly found themselves on the penalty kill.

It was the last thing they needed, the Knights soon making the man advantage count when Marr’s initial save from close-range saw the puck fall to Brown, who fired home from the left face-off circle.

For some, it might have been game over, but the Wildcats - at their first play-off finals weekend since 2014 - were not about to slip away quietly.

Crucially, they got on the board soon after going four goals down, Gospel again twice keeping the lead intact before he was finally beaten when Sam Bullas jabbed a rebound home from close range at 11.51.

The Wildcats then took control for a short spell and the Knights again relied on Gospel to stand firm, his biggest save coming when Tower broke free after a Knights play broke down on the edge of the Swindon zone - the netminder’s outstretched right leg coming to the rescue.

But he couldn’t do anything to deny Bullas making it a two-goal game when he was left free to fire into the top left-hand corner from eight yards.

Suddenly and, surprisingly given how the first 10 minutes had gone, it was game on once again.

When the first period break came, it was the Knights who would have been the more relieved with their opponents in the ascendancy and sniffing a comeback.

When the teams returned, the momentum built up by Swindon was gone and the Knights kept things simple, making it difficult for their rivals to create much by way of chances.

Gospel again produced an outstanding save when his left leg proved an immovable force, but it was an exceptional play from his captain that proved even more decisive.

This time it was Brown all on his own, dispossessing a Swindon opponent deep in his own zone before coming out from behind the Knights’ net to drive down centre ice.

While still in full flow, he then unleashed an unstoppable shot as he entered the Wildcats’ zone that left Marr with no chance as it flew past him and into the roof of the net at 34.20.

It was pure magica and, just three minutes later, the Knights restored their four-goal advantage, Barron deservedly getting on the board after finding himself all alone just inside the Wildcats’ zone.

While he had an option to pass to Brown in the right circle, he elected to fire through Marr’s legs to make it 6-2 at 37.31.

The Wildcats needed a quick response in the third but it never came, their only response coming when it was far too late, Tower dancing through on a breakaway to backhand over Gospel and make it 6-3 in the 56th minute.

Realising they had to throw everything they had at Leeds, Marr was pulled with just under three minutes to go. It was a brave move, but a necessary one.

But all it allowed for was Howlett to seal victory with an empty-net strike from around the halfway point, sending the hundreds of Knights’ fans in attendance delirious and preparing themselves for a second successive play-off final.