MANCHESTER, 27 MARCH – Travis Brown scored a brace against Manchester Storm on Friday in a rough-fought 5-1 Guildford Flames win at the Planet Ice Altrincham in an Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) campaign.
The leaders doubled their lead less than 30 seconds into the first period as defenseman Brown scored his fourth goal for the Flames this season, assisted by fellow Canadians Tyler Busch and Jack Jacome in the 41st minute.
“Getting an early third period goal was great to put a little more pressure on Manchester,” said Andy Hemmings, Assistant Coach for the Flames.
Brown doubled his tally and fired a shot down the centre in the 49th minute, through goaltender Drew DeRidder for a third goal for the away side, and his tenth goal for the team since signing in 2024.
When the puck fell loose in the 26th minute, 2025 summer signing Tyler Preziuso, a Canadian forward, slotted the puck past American international DeRidder for the first goal of the match.
The Storm made their comeback in the 53rd minute on a power-play goal by Joseph Nardi. The centre had been sent to the box in the second period, shooting the puck past goaltender Taz Burman, ruining the Flames chances of a clean sheet.
Flames forward Ethan Strang added his name to the scoresheet with a simple slip of the puck into an empty net, and in the same minute, teammate Mathieu Gosselin joined him to score the Flames’ fifth goal.
Fights ensued in the second period, earning two power plays following altercations involving Flames’ defenseman Ben Solder in the 28th minute and Storms’ Bradley Jenion sent to the box for holding in the 31st minute.
A minute later a third fight broke out, sending Busch and Jenion to the box for five minutes, followed soon after by the away side captain, Matt Alvaro, for cross-checking in the 35th minute.
Hemmings said: “[The early third period goal] maybe took a bit more [pressure] off us on the way to an important win as we try to secure the best playoff position available.”
The Flames look towards their next match tomorrow evening, 28th March, at home to the Glasgow Clan.
