30/10/2022 Adelaide C Grade ice hockey grand final game 2 – Blackhawks v Tigers 0-2

Selected photos from the Adelaide C Grade ice hockey grand final game2 (best of 3 series) between the Blackhawks and the Tigers played on 30/10/2022 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia.  After taking out game 1 to the tune of 7-2, the Blackhawks were looking to wrap up the series in 2 games whereas the Tigers were going to be playing for their season to continue.  In between the pipes for the Blackhawks was Justin Ruston, and for the Tigers, Jay Rahaley.  The would be no scoring in the first period, but plenty of penalties dished out.  Blackhawks Mitch Geraghty for roughing at 16:45, Tigers Alexei Filinkov for hooking 13:37, Blackhawks Dan Gill for interference at 8:34 and Tigers Jordan Green for hooking at 2:38.  Shots on goal for the period: Ruston facing 9 shots to Rahaley, 10 shots.

The atmosphere at the Ice Arena seemed to change as the fog rolled in with the dehumidifiers struggling to manage the humid conditions outside of the rink.  This made for some difficult conditions photographing, unable to determine if photos were in focus or not!  Blackhawks Will Gerace’s 2min minor for cross-checking was seen off by his team’s penalty kill unit, but then Dan Gill’s second interference call at 16:41 resulted in the Tigers opening the scoring at 15:38 on the powerplay with the goal scored by Jamie Lewis from Mark Jaeger.  The Blackhawks found themselves in penalty trouble with first Justin Brinkies being called for roughing, and then Gill, yet again for interference.  The Tigers finally gave the Blackhawks a bit of a chance when they were called for too many players on the ice at 9:12 but they were unable to score with the player advantage.  Then 3 more Blackhawks penalties did them no favours…Tom Mara for interference, Michael Harris for two roughing minors.  Shots on goal for the period were Blackhawks Ruston facing 9 shots to Tigers Rahaley facing 4 shots.

At 15:42 in the 3rd period saw penalty box regular Gill head back to the Blackhawks naughty corner again, this time for roughing.  The Blackhawks were just unable to catch a break with the referees and would have to find something special to get themselves out of this hole.  Finally luck came their way at 10:44 when Tigers Jordan Green was called for holding, giving them a much needed powerplay, but the Tigers penalty kill unit was up to the task.  Then another to Tigers Jim Ryan for interference at 4:23 with the game slowly winding down and time running out for the Blackhawks to match the rejuvenated Tigers outfit.  Then while shorthanded at 2:38, Tigers Lewis scored his second goal after another assist from the mercurial Filinkov to put the game almost out of reach.  This was now too much for Blackhawks goalie Ruston and he copped an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty at 1:05 left in the game.  And so Game 2 went the way of the Tigers who now carry the momentum into the decider Game 3 of the series.  shots on goal for the game were Blackhawks Ruston facing 26 shots to Tigers Rahaley 24 shots.