Ice strike back against North Stars

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The Melbourne Ice stole a 3-2 shootout victory over the Newcastle North Stars in the first rematch of the 2015 Grand Final at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Sunday night.
 
The North Stars’ home opener saw the Novocastrian’s raise a fifth Championship banner and lead from the opening exchanges, but a late Jason Baclig goal with under two minutes remaining forced a shootout.
 
Matt Armstrong sealed the win and spoiled the North Stars’ party, scoring the only goal of the shootout at the top of the third round, reversing the score from the 2015 Grand Final.
 
Earlier, the North Stars got off to the perfect start in front of a packed home crowd as Brandon Wong scored two goals in the first 10 minutes.
 
Wong signed a short-term contract with the North Stars during the week and only arrived on Saturday.
 
North Stars Head Coach Andrew Petrie said early goals are a result of taking the chances that are presented, something that Wong, a former AHL player, seemed to be excelling at.
 
“You’ve got to capitalise on your opportunities,” Petrie said. “Brandon (Wong), Connor McLaughlin and Swiss (Scott Swiston) hadn’t skated together at all before.”
 
Petrie was impressed by his import trio, saying they worked well together despite the lack of ice time together.
 
With the end of the period closing in, the Ice’s Lasse Lassen continued his impressing goal-scoring form, halving the deficit to 2-1.
 
The Danish International got the Ice on the board by putting it top shelf over the shoulder of Newcastle goaltender Dayne Davis.
 
While the second period went by scoreless for both teams, there was no lack of excitement on the ice.
 
Both teams were checking strongly and battling hard for the puck.
 
Scoring opportunities on both sides meant that the goalies had to be in top form, keeping a clean sheet throughout the period and for most of the third.
 
Trailing by one goal coming into the third, the Ice had to fight for the equaliser, increasing the pressure by taking 13 shots to five for the period.
 
As time ticked down, the Ice pulled goalie Troy Davenport moments before long-term import Jason Baclig slotted the game-tying goal.
 
Ice Coach Brent Laver was relieved the gamble paid off.
 
“We pulled Troy and thought we would just see what happened,” Laver said. “We were just lucky enough to sneak one in.”
 
With Armstrong the sole goal scorer in the shootout, the Ice flipped score from the 2015 Grand Final to claim the 3-2 win.
 
Laver was pleased by the win and the new chapter in the strong rivalry between the teams.
 
“The rivalry has existed between the two teams for a long time,” Laver said. “It’s always going to be a fun game and that (the 2015 final win by Newcastle) just added a bit of the edge.”
 
Next week, the North Stars travel to Sydney to take on the Ice Dogs on Saturday before returning home to face the Brave in Newcastle on Sunday, while the Ice host the Adelaide Adrenaline in a double header in Melbourne.