Game 2 of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) double header between the Adelaide Adrenaline and the Perth Thunder was played at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia on 16/06/2024. After putting in a gallant performance the night before to push the highly fancied Thunder team to shootout it would be interesting to see what the Adrenaline had left in the tank and especially confidence for this one.
In the 1st period the Thunder would pepper the Adrenaline goal, which wasn’t helped by the Adrenaline having a penalty at 14:23 when Sean Greer headed to the sin bin for a holding call. The Adrenaline penalty kill unit saw off the penalty and goaltender Rylan Toth was in his game. But it would be Adrenaline’s Kaden Elder that would open the scoring at 10:12 left on the clock. The assists came from fellow imports Shaun Dosanjh and Josh Adkins. At 4:58 Adrenaline’s Steve Best was given a slashing penalty, which had upset Thunder’s Reece Lukowiak who kept Best down on the ice stopping him from getting up. The referees gave him a roughing penalty as well as an unsportsmanlike conduct minor. The powerplay did not yield a goal for the Adrenaline. With just under 2mins remaining in the period, Thunder’s Kieren Webster tied the score after assists from Jordan Kyros and Finnish import Ville Tenosalmi. Shots on goal showed the dominance of the Perth unit with 18 shots to 6. The Adrenaline were certainly holding firm.
The 2nd period was tight as well with eventually something having to give. Thunder’s Yannick Lodge was deemed for hooking at 14:40 on the clock, but the Adrenaline were unable to score on the powerplay. Then at 8:33 Thunder’s Hungarian import Natan Vertes headed to the sin bin for slashing. Again the Thunder’s penalty unit held firm, denying the Adrenaline any goals. They would be kept busy this period as Lynden Lodge hooked his opponent at 3:38, however the Adrenaline were unable to score again. And so the period saw no goals scored. Shots on goal were 11-a-piece.
Early in the 3rd period Adrenaline’s New Zealand/Canadian player Ty Wright tripped his opponent giving the Thunder the chance to score on the powerplay. However the Adrenaline’s penalty unit headlined by Kaden Elder and Josh Adkins had other ideas and saw off the penalty. The period saw plenty of end to end hockey with neither team finding a breakthrough until at 7:40 Adrenaline’s Dosanjh was rewarded with a goal for his hard defence work playing up forward. The assists came from rookie Daniel Koudelka and Nathaniel Benson. Now the higher placed Thunder were under the pump but with plenty of time on the clock there was no reason to panic. That was until Adrenaline’s Elder slotted his 2nd goal for the game at 1:42 left in the game. The assists came from Adkins and Zach Boyle. Now the Thunder were reeling on the ropes and would need to dig deep and 2 quick goals to save the game and get some points. The Adrenaline weren’t going to be denied and the home crowd went wild as the Adrenaline came away with the prize scalp of the Perth Thunder, and more importantly 4 points from the weekend’s games. This would give them confidence to play league leaders Melbourne Ice the following weekend. Shots on goal for the game were Thunder 38, to the Adrenaline 27.
