By Juliann Cloud and Kea Gerike
Widnes Wild forward Flynn Massie is “taking the positives and moving forward” after a 1-3 loss to NIHL 1 league toppers Billingham Stars.
The Wild showed no sign of exhaustion as they came into their second game of the weekend after playing #2 Blackburn Hawks on Saturday night.
#32 Michael Elder opened the score at 2:44 for Billingham but the Wild’s offence levelled with a powerplay goal from Captain #17 Andrew Hopkins with assists from #39 Matthew Barlow and #44 Dani Haid at 25:29.
The Widnes defence held strong for 48 minutes and Billingham were not able to score again until the third period, with goals from #16 Connor McNulty and #91 Iain Brown.
New Widnes goalie #30 Paul Maudsley was named MVP after successfully defending 50 shots on goal.
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Widnes v Billingham
Widnes #8 Flynn Massie says he has been seeing a “development” among the team.
The forward said: “All of the boys have been backing each other up and everybody is playing as a team rather than individuals.”
Massie and Haid returned to the team in January giving the Wild a much-needed boost in their competitiveness.
Forward #16 Micheal Gilbert said: “We got a very young team and it’s a lot of learning throughout the season.
“We just want to develop it and build for the future in which I think we are doing.
“The results and performance are getting better and we need to keep pushing forward.”
Widnes have eight fixtures left in the season to try and move up one spot in the league to secure a place in the play-offs.
Their next game will be against the Solihull Barons on Sunday night (February 16).
(Images by Juliann Cloud)
