Two goals from captain Andy Smith, alongside efforts from Justin Noble, Nicky Lewis and Jack Tarczycki, saw the Invicta Dynamos claim a narrow 5-4 victory in Gillingham on Saturday evening as they overcame league newcomers the Slough ENL Jets.
In the opening frame the hosts almost outshot their visitors by two-to-one but it was their guests who made the better start on the scoreboard as they battled to a 2-0 lead within twelve minutes. They had beaten netminder Andy Moffat within 42 seconds of the first puck drop, as Jamie Milton teed up Carl Thompson for the opener, and Erik Knizat then doubled their edge whilst Corey Watkins sat a minor for cross checking.
The hosts hit back ahead of the buzzer however, and they tallied three unanswered to hold a slender lead come the break. Canadian Justin Noble fired the Dynamos off of the mark after linking up with Robbie Brown, Nicky Lewis then restored parity with six minutes to go in the period before captain Andy Smith tallied the third to make it 3-2.
In the second period tempers then frayed when Daniel Rose’s check on Tom Dennis high to the head left the defenceman feeling worse for wear and his teammate Ryan Giles seeking vengeance. Rose was given 2+10 for checking to the head whilst his combatant, Giles, was given a match penalty for roughing that would force him out of the tie in Romford the following night.
When play restarted a drive from Jack Tarczycki beat Ryan Bainborough to make it 4-2 but the Jets kept themselves in the tie ahead of the second intermission as Lewis Tribble answered for 4-3.
In the final period the Dynamos managed to quickly restore their two goal cushion courtesy of Andy Smith but they were pegged back again midway through as David Heath replied to make it 5-4. Despite the slender deficit however, Slough opted not to pull netminder Ryan Bainborough late on and the hosts saw out the game to take the two league points.
So after a torrid week off of the ice there was reason to be cheerful on it as the Dynamos secured another two league points. Man of the match awards on the night went to Jack Tarczycki of the home side whilst the in-form Ryan Bainborough took it for the Jets after the netminder had conceded just five of 59 efforts on his net.
From here the Dynamos would have to prepare themselves for part two of a double header weekend with Sunday seeing them travel to Romford for a cup tie against the Raiders – starting at 5.15pm.