Selected photos from the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) game between the Adelaide Adrenaline and the Brisbane Lightning played on 18/06/2023 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia. Would the Adrenaline be able to back up the dominant 4-0 routing of the Brisbane Lightning the day before, or would the Lightning assert their authority to show why they were much higher up the ladder? The same wild and aggressive play from Saturday was the order of the day, making for some exciting and sometimes scary hockey.
The Adrenaline’s Coy Prevost would give the Lightning the first player advantage when he headed to the penalty box at 18:42 for tripping, but the Adrenaline’s penalty kill unit was up to the task and held off any scoring chances. A bit over 2mins later Lightning’s antagoniser Sacha Rapchuk would take a 2min break on the penalty bench for interference. It would be Lightning’s Julian Fodor that would put the 1st goal on the board, with an assist from Christian Fuschini. Adrenaline’s Brett Radford would level the score at 4:15 remaining after an assist from Brett Thompson. Shots on goal for the period saw Adrenaline’s Trnka face 12 shots to Lightning’s Nicholas Novysedlank face 11.
Lightning’s Kulczycki would waste no time putting his team back up by one, scoring seconds into the period, with the assists coming from Eric Speedie and Alexis Girard. Adrenaline’s Zach Boyle levelled the score at the 13:41 mark. Assists came from Coy Prevost and Noah Maley. The Lightning again struck back at the 10:08 mark, with Patrik Popovics getting the puck past Trnka with the assists coming from Fodor and Harley Anderson camped out in the goal mouth. At the same time Adrenaline’s Connor Vermeulen was seen to be hooking and took a 2min break in the penalty box. At the 7:21mins remaining mark Lightning’s Mikko Rippon fell foul of the refs and was sent packing for 2mins for tripping giving the Adrenaline the powerplay, and with that Prevost was able to score. Brett Radford and Nathaniel Benson were awarded the assists. This was a humdinger of a game with neither side giving an inch. Deep into the period Benson would be done for holding and only 4secs later Lightning’s Girard scored the go ahead goal with assists from Max Roth and Kulczycki. Shots on goal for the period: Adrenaline’s Trnka and Lightning’s Novyzedlaka faced 7 a piece in a tight period.
The 3rd period the Adrenaline served it right back at the Lightning in a minute and a half into the period when Benson scored unassisted. Adrenaline’s Zac Steele would get a double penalty, delay of game at 16:09 and interference at 13:33 giving the Lightning the powerplay chances, but they were unable to add to their score. Then at 10:20 on the clock Kulczycki would put them ahead 5-4 after assists from Speedie and Rippon. Adrenaline’s Prevost was pinged for tripping at the 8min mark but his penalty kill unit kept their end of the bargain and the score remained the same. Lightning’s Kiliwnik headed to the penalty box at 5:29 for interference to give the Adrenaline the chance to equalise, but they couldn’t on the powerplay. The Lightning weren’t finished yet and Popovics posted another goal with a bit over 2mins remaining silencing the home crowd. The assists came from Fodor and Anderson. The Adrenaline would need to dig deep to overcome the 2goal deficit so late in the game. Dragging their goaltender Trnka the Adrenaline threw everything at the Lightning and even with two long shots at the open goals from the Lightning and the puck returning all the way back for the icing calls time wasn’t on their side. An eventual breakaway by Lightning’s Arum Rapchuk created the Lightning’s 7th goal. The 7-4 scoreline did not do the game justice to show the closeness between the two teams. Shots on goal for the game saw Adrenaline’s Trnka face 33 shots to the Lightning’s Novyzedlak face 29.
