The Southern Stampede broke a five-game losing streak with a surprise 5-3 win against the West Auckland Admirals in Queenstown on Saturday night.
Last year's beaten finalist has been disappointing this season and was made to pay for some poor discipline when it was beaten 7-1 by the Admirals at the same venue on Friday night.
The Stampede showed more resolve and improved discipline to win Saturday's fixture.
Forward Joe Bjorkman orchestrated the win with three goals, and Gareth Lloyd nabbed his first goal for the Stampede.
Bjorkman has planned an overseas holiday and will miss the remainder of the campaign, but the victory has helped keep the Stampede's title prospects alive.
It plays the top-of-the-table Canterbury Red Devils in Christchurch next week.
The Devils, who had a bye this week, beat the Stampede 5-0 and 3-2 when the teams met in Queenstown in round four and have lost just one game this season - a dramatic 6-5 defeat to the Dunedin Thunder in overtime.
The Thunder has had a charmed run, winning two matches in overtime this season, but its luck ran out against the Botany Swarm in Auckland on Saturday night, when it was beaten 8-7 in a shootout.
The Thunder had to come back from a 6-2 deficit to send the game into overtime.
Boosted by that performance, the Thunder charged to a 4-1 win in the second game last night.
