Week 14 Recap: Oberoi stones Bears as Thunder sweep Dogs

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Thunder take 5 points after losing 3

Despite being docked three competition points for a roster violation last week, the Perth Thunder swept the visiting Sydney Ice Dogs in Perth at the weekend.

Despite an even first period on Saturday, Cam Todd started the weekend off right for the Dogs with his 7^th of the year for a 1-0 Sydney lead, just 4 minutes from the break.

It would be short-lived, as Yu Hikosaka took advantage of a penalty to Alex MacDonald for a power play goal 1:26 from the intermission. MacDonald atoned instantly, restoring the Ice Dogs’ lead 2-1 just 20 seconds later.

The second period was similar to the first with all the scoring done in the last few minutes. Sydney had outshot Perth 15-11 and had three chances on the power play to no avail, before Ivan Kuleshov made it 3-1 with 2:04 to play. That was until Ben Berard’s 6^th of the year right at the buzzer cut the deficit to 3-2 at the final change.

Natan Vertes tied the game for Perth with 8:16 remaining, before Kale Costa’s 7^th of the season clawed them back in front on a power play with 6:57 to go.

Ex-retiree Andrew Cox then salvaged at least a point for the Thunder, with a goal off of a feed from Rob Haselhurst to send the game to overtime.

Haselhurst then completed the Perth comeback with his 5^th of the year just 43 seconds into overtime, to give Perth the win.

On Sunday, Mighty Roo Jake Ruck’s first goal of the year got the Thunder going halfway through the first period, while Ben Breault followed up on a rebound with 3:33 remaining to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage.

It got worse for the Dogs in the second frame, as Hikosaka and Jordy Kyros struck within 30 seconds of each other to increase the Thunder lead to 4-0 and chase Jake Doornbos from the net.

Breault’s second goal of the game made it 5-0, before Todd pulled a power play goal back after Thunder’s Alastair Punler was ejected for kneeing Strat Allen.

Kale Costa’s wrister from the high slot was the only goal of the third period, and it finished 5-2 in favour of Perth for a win and 5 points from two games.

Bertein made 17 saves on 19 shots, while Doornbos stopped 12 of 16 in the loss. Arvid Ljung turned aside 30 of 31 in relief.

The Thunder now sit on 40 points, 11 clear of the Mustangs whom they host in a double header at the weekend. The Ice Dogs host the Central Coast Rhinos at Macquarie Ice Arena on Saturday.
 
Oberoi makes 79 saves as Rhinos upset Bears in shootout

Anand Oberoi had an incredible 79-save performance as the Central Coast Rhinos upset the Sydney Bears 5-4 at Macquarie Ice Arena on Saturday night.

The Canadian netminder was shelled from the opening whistle until the shootout, but held firm to give the Rhinos a shootout win and arguably the biggest upset of the 2024 AIHL season.

The Bears piled on 23 shots to 9 in the first 20 minutes but it would be the visitors who would strike first, via Danick Bouchard with 7:25 remaining for a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

Central Coast again bucked the 23-4 shot count trend in the second period, going 3-0 up with goals to Mackenzie Bolger and Aziz Baazzi to stun the league leaders. Brody Lindal’s 21^st of the year reduced the deficit to 3-1, but that was momentary as Bouchard’s second closed out the second period for a 4-1 Rhinos’ lead.

The Bears fought back in the third period, led by two goals from Lucas Hermann and another from Carson Miller on the power play to send the game to overtime and stun the Rhinos’ faithful in reverse.

After overtime was unable to separate the two sides, Bouchard’s lone goal of the shootout would prove to be the winner and give the Rhinos their 6^th win of the year. It would be a fitting send-off for Bouchard in what was his final game for Central Coast before returning to the Ligue Magnus in France.

The Rhinos head on the road to face the Ice Dogs and Brave, while the Bears host Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.


Photo: Frank Kutsche
 
Northstars, Adrenaline split points in Adelaide in pair of overtime games

Newcastle and Adelaide have needed at least overtime to take the points off of each other this past weekend at the Ice Arena.

The Northstars prevailed 4-3 in OT on the Saturday, while it took the Adrenaline a shootout to take the two points with a 3-2 win on the Sunday.

Daniel Chen opened the scoring on Saturday for Adelaide with his 4^th for 2024, proving to be the lone goal for the first period.

Daniel Berno then equalised for the Northstars midway through the second period, only for Steve Best’s first of the year to restore the Adelaide lead 2-1 just 5 minutes later. The shot count levelled out to 24-a-piece through 40 minutes.

Kaden Elder extended the Adelaide lead to 3-1 and it appeared an upset was on the cards. Newcastle battled back as Francis Drolet responded 30 seconds later, and was followed up by Sean Oultram’s first AIHL goal since the 2011 season to send the game to overtime after a 3-3 deadlock.

Beau Taylor continued his stellar season with the overtime goal, his 14^th of the year and giving the Northstars a 4-3 win and spoiling Ryan Foll’s 150^th AIHL game.

Rylan Toth made 44 saves from 48 shots in the loss, while Mistuaki Inuoe went 35 from 38 for Newcastle.

Adelaide bounced back on Sunday, starting with Shaun Dosanjh’s 6^th goal of the year for a 1-0 Adrenaline lead towards the end of the first period.

Newcastle matched them step-for-step with Alex Yuill equalising midway through the second period, which also saw Oultram and Remy McGuiness scrap after Oultram ran into Toth in the Adelaide crease.

Elder’s second of the weekend regained the lead for Adelaide during the closing stages of the third period, but it would be Kyler Matthews’ 9^th goal of the year that again sent the game into overtime.

Toth and Smart both stood firm during the 3-on-3 period forcing the game to a shootout, where Adelaide sealed the deal through Josh Adkins and Elder. 

Adelaide move to 19 points in the Rurak Conference, while the Northstars remain on top with 40 points.

A rematch between the two will take place this Saturday at HISS, with Adelaide also facing the Bears at Macquarie on Sunday.

Lightning, Brave split series in Brisbane

The Brisbane Lightning and Canberra Brave have split a two-game series in Queensland at the weekend, with a 6-4 Canberra regulation win on the Saturday followed by a 2-1 overtime win to Brisbane on Sunday, between 2nd and 3^rd place in the Rurak Conference.

Batu Gendunov started the scoring in the final minute of the first period, to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage after 20 minutes despite being outshot 10-7.

Despite a dour first period, the scoring opened up in the second at both ends. Tyler Kubara grabbed a goal less than a minute in, closely followed by Matt Clark’s first for the season and suddenly the Brave were 2-1 up. Mikko Rippon tied the game at the halfway point, but 3 unanswered goals from the Brave from Cangelosi, Carey and Miettinen found the visitors 5-2 up at the final change.

Brisbane had a sniff with Patrick Popovics’ 7^th goal to make it 5-3 with 12 minutes remaining, but Carey’s second provided enough of a buffer to give the Brave the 6-4 win despite Julian Fodor’s late goal.

Sunday’s game was a much tighter affair, with no scoring until midway through the second period despite the Lightning having two chances on the power play in the first.

Chance Adrian made sure the power play took advantage in the second period and scored his 5^th of the year for a 1-0 Lightning lead. Carey’s third of the weekend for the Brave less than 15 seconds later, returned the game to an arm wrestle at 1-1.

Regulation finished at 1-1 as did the overtime period, as Curtis Meger stopped both shots in the shootout while Gendunov and Mitch Dyck both scored, to give Brisbane a crucial two points in third place in the Rurak Conference.

The Lightning host the Melbourne Ice this weekend on Saturday as Canberra do battle with Central Coast on Sunday.