The Adelaide Adrenaline entered their third consecutive double header weekend by playing host to one of the league's top teams of the season, the Melbourne Ice.
After winning three of their last four games, the Adrenaline continued to use speed to their advantage as they regularly got ahead of the play and made the Ice work hard to get the puck anywhere near starting goalie Rylan Toth. Fans at the Ice ArenA were also treated to Remy McGuiness' debut game, back in an Adrenaline uniform for the first time in nearly five years. McGuiness wasted no time getting ahead of the play and proving to be a valuable asset to his linemates.
Daniel Chen and Joey MacDougall teamed up to push the puck into the offensive zone several times and create some scoring opportunities for the Adrenaline but were stopped by Tatsunoshin Ishida at every turn. Both teams left the ice at the end of the first with eleven shots on goal but it would be Roman Kraemer who snuck around Daniel Koudelaka to give the Ice a 1-0 lead.
Melbourne continued to play well defensively for most of the second period as they created a crowd in front of the net and forced the Adrenaline to the edges of the rink. Steve Best and Nate Benson turned up the heat by charging ahead with the puck and taking shots where possible, but the only goal of the period would go to Mackenzei Caruana who doubled the lead for the Ice with less than two minutes to go.
"They've got good guys and good systems," MacDougall says, "It's nothing we haven't seen before and nothing we can't control and tame and beat."
Kaden Elder opened the third period by scoring from a familiar spot on the point and put the Adrenaline on the board. They continued to create numerous scoring chances after that but Ishida was quick to show why he is the league's top performing goalie. An aggressive second half of the final period saw a number of penalties handed down and the Ice went on to take the 5-1 win.
"Tomorrow will be a bit faster and a bit more physical," MacDougall says. "We've gotta dig a little bit deeper around the front of the net and capitalize on those chances that we do get."
The Adrenaline are looking to split the series with the Ice on Sunday afternoon at the Ice ArenA. A handful of tickets still remain for those who want to get in on the action. Puck drop is at 4:15pm.