Super saver too good

LONDON netminder Sylvain Daigle produced two man-of-the-match performances over the weekend to leave the Bison with just one point from their matches against their play-off rivals.

Just 24 hours after Friday night's 1-1 draw at Lee Valley, Daigle turned in a 52-shot shut-out in an action-packed game in Basingstoke.

However, the heroics of the goalie were over-shadowed by the antics of his team-mates on Saturday night.

The visitors started the better, but it was the Bison - minus Canadian duo Shawn Maltby and Owen Walter along with British star Shaun Thompson - who had shots on target as Tony Redmond and then Doug Sheppard both tested Daigle.

Then disaster struck as Jason Hewitt scored from close-range with the Racers' first telling shot at 7:52.

Worse was to follow when their second shot of the night also found the back of the net. Jim Vickers fired through the legs of Ronnie Vogel to finish a nice breakout two minutes later.

That signalled the end of Vogel's night as Dean Skinns took over in goal. He was soon called into action, saving a Mark Gouett shot from the right wing.

Soon after, a Vickers blue-line shot through a sea of bodies saw Skinns come up with a great save.

As the period came to a close, the home side upped the pressure with Pavol Rieciciar and man-of-the-match Mike Ford both going close.

As the clock ticked down, mild-mannered former Bison coach Steve Moria showed he had learned a few tricks from his new team-mates with a punch to the face of Redmond, who replied by hooking away Moria's legs.

Later in the game, Jeff Ewasko got his own revenge by crashing the former Bison man into the boards. Moria admitted afterwards it was a fair hit, but he still winced at Basingstoke's man mountain as they skated off the ice.

The second session saw the home side keep up the pressure with Redmond and Lewis Buckman, in his final game for the Bison, both going close.

Brent Pope, who had an excellent game against the team that released him earlier in the season, also had a good shot saved.

At 25:30, Sheppard broke away but again Daigle saved and his London team-mate Jason Robinson was lucky to escape a penalty after throwing his stick to put off Sheppard.

Three minutes later, referee Michael Hicks indicated a penalty call on London, so netminder Skinns skated to the home bench. But, before he got there, he was checked by Jason Hewitt, which nearly sparked a brawl.

The referee then incensed the home fans as he called only the original penalty and decided to ignore the Hewitt incident.

During the Bison powerplay, London nearly scored but Skinns produced a great reflex save to deny Robinson.

Back came the home side with more pressure as Adam Hyman latched on to a cross from Pope and then Jozef Lukac fired the rebound just wide.

Soon after, Pope was involved in another move which saw Ford just miss out on a rebound chance.

The Bison faithful screamed for a penalty, as Hewitt sat on Basingstoke's top goal-scorer Sheppard to stop him getting involved in the play.

With emotions running high and the Herd in full stampede trying to force a goal, Ford was again denied at close-range by Daigle and then was cross-checked from behind by Dennis Maxwell. The check, which was so late it was nearly in next year, again went unpunished.

As the period went into the final two minutes, the impressive Duncan Dalmao had a shot saved and as Ford went for the rebound, ever player piled in.

If Basingstoke needed any indication it was not going to be their night it came at 38:42. A Jerry Galway shot was directed by Vickers towards his own net, but Daigle was alert to the danger and pushed the puck away.

The final period saw the home side continue to throw everything at the London net but Daigle was not in the mood to give away any early Christmas presents as the visitors were out-shot 20-3 and 52-16.

On a rare London attack, Maxwell hit the post and, with two minutes left, Skinns was pulled for the extra skater.

This put even more pressure on the visitors' net but without success.

Hewitt shot at the empty net and missed, but Maxwell was on hand to slot home with 18.3 seconds remaining.

Bison boss Mark Bernard said: "I cannot fault my team tonight. They put in a tremendous effort.

"We were not beaten by the London Racers tonight, but by Sylvain Daigle. He stole the game for them.

"My team once again showed their guts without a number of players and I am proud to coach them and I am sure that determination will be rewarded in the second half of the season."

After the final buzzer, Bernard picked up a game misconduct penalty for his outburst at referee Hicks.

Talking about this, he said: "The referee did not lose us the game, but he made some poor calls on both sides tonight.

"He has not called a penalty after Mike Ford has been cross-checked, then Doug Sheppard is being held and he gives one on Jeff Ewasko for a little thing in front of our bench.

"The league goes on about improving the level of play, but the officials have to as well."

London Racers 1, Basingstoke Bison 1

On Friday night in London, Moria scored the opening goal of the contest in the second period, from Maxwell and Ian McIntyre.

Minutes earlier, the visitors lost defenceman Lukac to a knee injury after being checked into the net by McIntyre.

The Bison piled on the pressure and equalised in the last 10 minutes of the match as Rieciciar converted a Mike Ford pass. An overtime period of five minutes failed to split the teams, leaving honours even.

Defenceman Galway picked up the Bison man-of-the-match award.