Invicta Dynamos came away with a draw from Lee Valley despite being 4-2 to the good early in the third period.
Following the departure of Mark McGill, Steve Nightingale took the responsibility of minding the Invicta net in the NIHL Southern Cup clash.
Adam McNicoll and Grant Baxter were also missing, allowing Haydn Wootton the opportunity to make his first appearance for Invicta under a 2-way deal from Guilford.
The first period started with early opportunities falling to both Ozollapa and Bailey Wootton. Ondrej Zosiak skated coast to coast just before the end of the first period but was denied by Raiders netminder Michael Gray as both teams finished the period without scoring.
The second period finally produced goals. Raiders D-man David Oliver had committed a slashing penalty which Invicta took advantage of and scored a powerplay goal through Nicky Lewis on 24:05, Eriks Ozollapa and Jacob Ranson providing the assists.
On 24:45, Steve Nightingale produced the save of the game, denying Sam Roberts who looked certain to put the Raiders back level.
On 26:03 Nightingale was left out to dry with ex-Dynamo Michal Oravec skating through two Invicta defenders on the blue line to beat Nightingale on a one to one and put the scores level at 1-1.
Michael Oravec then turned provider on 32:27, finding the unmarked TJ Fillery who fired London Raiders ahead, again with Nightingale left with no chance to prevent the goal.
Penalties on London Raiders duo of David Oliver and Robert Veares left the Dynamos in a 5 on 3 advantage on 33:49 which produced an equalising goal from Eriks Ozollapa, assisted by Arran Strawson and Nicky Lewis.
Invicta were penalised on 35:33 for having too many men on the ice, and despite being a man short, they scored a shorthanded goal on 36 minutes, Eriks Ozollapa again scoring after being played through by Arran Strawson.
The second period ended 4 seconds early following an injury to Invicta forward Joshua Condren who ended-up being stretchered away from the ice and playing no further part in the game.
Nicky Lewis put Invicta into a 4-2 lead on 42:17, stroking the puck past Gray, the assist coming from Andrew Henderson.
On 49:59 Michal Oravec found Rio Grinell-Parke who dinked past Strawson on the left and fired the puck past Nightingale to bring the scoreline back to 4-3 in favour of the Dynamos.
Oravec would have a hand in a fourth goal, this time on 55:09, converting the equaliser past Nightingale following assists from David Oliver and Tom Davis.
Invicta had a great chance to win the game on 56:09, Eriks Ozollapa was hacked down when straight through on goal and was awarded a penalty shot – which he missed with his shot flying past Gray’s post.
The game ended 4-4, with Nicky Lewis getting the man of the match beers for Invicta and Robert Veares for London Raiders. Steve Nightingale faced 38 shots, with an 89.47 save percentage.
To listen to our exclusive interview with Haydn Wootton from after the game, click here: