Latvian Vlads Vulkanov bagged himself a hat-trick and an assist to help secure a 7-2 victory for Widnes Wild at Planet Ice.
Widnes returned to winning ways with an excellent showing against a struggling Nottingham Lions side.
Widnes took the lead twice but were pegged back by the Lions on both occasions.
Vulkanov combined with player/coach Richard Haggar for both of the first two goals for the hosts.
The first was a simple pass across the face of goal for Vulkanov to tap home.
The second took a bit more quality from Haggar.
He took the puck round the back of the net before squeezing it between two defenders to find Vulkanov in space to fire home.
Vulkanov could have had netted another later on as he broke away from the defence.
He took on a slapshot from distance and smashed his effort against the outside of the post.
Nottingham managed to drag the game back level at the start of the second period.
Widnes then started to take proper control of the tie.
Danny Haid netted the third goal, building on his MVP performance last week against Solway.
Liam Charnock found him in enough space to silkily slot the puck beyond netminder Luca Sheldon.
Wild went from strength to strength in the game from that point on as they showed some ruthless character.
The fourth goal came on the powerplay with Mikey Gilbert converting before the end of the second period to pretty much seal victory.
The third period turned extremely physical, even by ice hockey standards.
Jay Robinson got a goal and an assist in the final period. He ran the show in the closing stages.
He even set up Vlads Vulkanov’s hat-trick effort as they overwhelmed the Nottingham netminder Sheldon.
There were many firm checks made by both sides, with Wild’s Ken Armstrong getting some time in penalty box for a cheeky elbow.
Penalties came thick and fast for Widnes, but even when it was 5 v 3 in favour of the away side, they still couldn’t score.
Matty Barlow managed to squeeze a goal in between his two spells in the penalty box in the third period.
He rounded out the scoring after a slick set-up from Tom Jackson.
The memory of last weekend’s shootout loss to Solway is firmly out of their minds after this impressive showing.
They will be back in action against league leaders Solway next weekend in the first leg of their Moralee Cup semi-final.
They will play both legs of that tie this weekend, travelling to Solway on Saturday and coming back to Widnes on Sunday.
