Jacome wins it inside final two minutes

Photo: John Uwins

Jack Jacome struck with 1:57 remaining to give the Guildford Flames a 3–2 win over Manchester Storm on Saturday night at a sold-out Spectrum, reversing the result from 24 hours earlier in Manchester.

“On Friday night we played a full 60 minutes, and tonight I think we played for about 55,” reflected Storm’s Gary Haden post-game. “We let our foot off the gas for five minutes and it cost us.”

The opening period was a scrappy affair, with both sides creating good chances. Manchester edged the Flames slightly in terms of opportunities, but neither team was able to break the deadlock.

“They had a great start to the game, and at the end of the day Taz (Burman) played incredible,” admitted Flames defenceman Travis Brown. “He had a wonderful game and without him that could have been a very different game.”

The physical tone continued in the second period. Just past the halfway mark, slick passing found Nick Welsh in space and he hammered a one-timer past Burman to open the scoring. The Flames responded well and, with three minutes left in the period, Ethan Strang broke clear on a breakaway and calmly slotted the puck past Drew DeRidder to level the game.

However, Guildford’s joy was short-lived. Within a minute of the equaliser, Harrison Caines restored Manchester’s lead, finishing after Stephen Johnson’s initial shot was saved by Burman.

In the closing seconds of the period, Nick Welsh was called for slashing, giving Guildford a power play to start the third.

“We turned some pucks over and gave them some momentum,” said Haden of the latter stages. “If we’d taken our chances and got that next goal, it was a whole different game. It was almost two complete games over the last two nights. Now we have to get ready for a tough challenge against Sheffield.”

Two late goals in just over four minutes turned the game around. At 54:05, Travis Brown’s shot from the point took a couple of deflections in front and found its way through to tie the game. Then, with 1:57 remaining, Charlie Curti’s shot was saved by DeRidder but the rebound fell kindly for Jacome, who slotted home the winner.

“We wanted to keep things simple, get back to the basics and get a lot of pucks to the net,” Brown said of the Flames’ approach to the third. “At this time of year, every point matters. I think after losing in Manchester and being able to come back and win after being down showed we have a lot of resilience in our team.”