Haringey Huskies edged past strugglers Basingstoke Buffalo with a 6-5 overtime victory in front of a bumper crowd at Alexandra Palace.

The hosts dominated the first period until a match penalty for fighting was awarded to Perry Whitlock.

The resulting powerplay goal, scored by Basingstoke’s Blair Dubyk was the only time the puck saw the back of the net that period.

The second period was much more entertaining with both teams stepping up a gear.

Huskies started the scoring with a goal from top scorer Daniel Clayton, with assists from Lee Mercer and Stuart Appleby.

Huskies’ captain, Ben Osborne, banked in a shot off the netminder in the 34th minute to mark the start of a flurry of goal mouth activity.

Within seconds the visitors had drawn level with a fast paced goal from Cameron Buckle, assisted by Marcus Russell and Gregory Martin.

Buffalo went ahead again in the 35th minute when Dubyk scored from a swift turn from the blue line.

A further goal, this time short-handed, from Samuel Compton, assisted by Josh Richards and Daniel Lackey increased Basingstoke’s lead to 2-4.

Haringey drew one back before the interval when Osborne scored again from assists by Ed Lay and Steve Woodford.

Huskies continued the scoring into the third period with two goals scored in six seconds.

The first an unassisted shot from Woodford and the second a text book goal from Mercer after passes from Appleby and Clayton.

With two minutes left in the game, after calling a time out, Buffalo pulled their netminder, allowing an extra forward onto the ice.

This tactic worked superbly as the equalising goal was scored by Buckle with a minute and a half left in the match.

The match then went into five minute sudden death overtime, a first for the Huskies.

Captain Osborne scored his hat-trick goal two minutes into the session when a pass from Clayton was deflected off the netminder and into the back of the net.

Huskies: Ben Osborne 3+0, Daniel Clayton 1+2, Steve Woodford 1+1, Lee Mercer 1+0, Stuart Appleby 0+2, Ed Lay 0+1.

Buffalo: Blair Dubyk 2+1, Cameron Buckle 2+0, Samuel Compton 1+0, Gregory Martin 0+3, Marcus Russel 0+1, Daniel Lackey 0+1, Josh Richards 0+1, Jak Enticknap 0+1.

Netminders: David Wride (Huskies) 26 saves/ 31 shots, Aaron Craft (Buffalo) 46 saves/52 shots.