Manchester Phoenix 0, Basingstoke Bison 1

CURTIS Cruickshank celebrated being named Finnair/Powerplay Magazine's Elite League player-of-the-month for November with his second shut-out of the season for the Basingstoke Bison in Manchester on Friday night.

This game was a duel between two 'keepers in top form as only one goal split the sides after 60 minutes in what was the lowest-scoring league game ever in Basingstoke's history.

The opening period saw the visitors out-shoot the home side 12-9, helped by the only powerplay of the season after David Kozier had departed for cross-checking guest player from Milton Keynes' Michael Wales.

The closest the Bison came to scoring was from a Jesse Hammill shot which was cleared from the goal crease by former Bison Dwight Parrish.

The second session saw the game swing to the home side as they fired 22 shots on man-of-the-match Cruickshank - again helped by three powerplays.

The metalwork of the goal twice denied the Phoenix as Mike Morin hit the crossbar and George Awada pinged the post.

The only goal of the contest arrived at 47:09 as Filip scored to finish a move involving Kim Vahanen and Blake Sorensen.

At 52:23, the Phoenix lost Morin after he received a 10-minute misconduct penalty for disputing a too-many-men-on-the-ice call against his side.

Bison lost captain Phil Roy for the final four minutes of the game as referee Moray Hanson gave him a double roughing minor penalty.

The Phoenix pulled their netminder for the extra skater but were unable to beat Cruickshank and that meant the Bison moved up to fifth spot in the Elite League.

Player-coach Steve Moria said: "We played a good defensive game, limiting their shots mostly to the outside and Cruicker (Curtis Cruickshank) has come up with the saves."

Of the award for his netminder, Moria said: " It is a well-deserved award. He is the backbone of our team and is one of the most valuable players in the league at the moment."

Scoring, Bison: Filip 1+0, Vahanen, Sorensen 0+1. Shots on goal: Platt 33, Cruickshank 45. Penalties: Phoenix 22min, Bison 14.