Selected photos from the Australian Ice Hockey League game between last placed Adelaide Adrenaline and second to last placed Newcastle Northstars played on 24/05/2025 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia. The Adrenaline were going to face an uphill battle this weekend as the Northstars now apparently had all their imports (seems to be a thing with the Northstars always acquiring their imports later in the season and then making inroads in the competition). They boasted Evgenii Skachkov, a former player from the KHL, arguably the second highest league in the world after the NHL, and Karel Kubat, a former player of the highest Czech league, and Francis Drolet who had played in Italy2, Ligue Magnus and France2 leagues. The Adrenaline would be without the services of key defenceman Shaun Dosanjh on the injury list with concussion. Goaltenders for the game would be import Cale Dolan for the Adrenaline, and ex-Adelaidean Charlie Smart for the Northstars.
The 1st period seemed a little different compared with the hectic opening one of the day before. The first goal on the board would go to Adrenaline’s Joey MacDougall at 14:33, igniting: the passionate home crowd. Assists came from Steve Best and Daniel Koudelka. Adrenaline’s Josh Adkins would receive a holding minor penalty at 12:05 and the experienced Evgenii Skachkov made short work of it to equal the score at 11:05. The assists came from Karel Kubat and Kimm Tallberg. It would take until 2mins remaining in the period before another goal was scored, this time to Adrenaline’s Josh Adkins (assists Daniel Chen and Nathaniel Benson). Northstars small dynamo Riley Klugerman would frustrate the Adrenaline as he levelled the score a minute later (assists Liam Ryan and Kubat). Shots on goal for the period again saw the Northstars dominate 17-9.
The 2nd period was relatively even with neither team finding a way forward as the young Adrenaine team matched it with the much more experienced Northstars outfit. At 11:19 Klugerman would score the go-ahead goal for the Northstars (assists Ryan and Casey Kubara). The Adrenaline had the powerplay at 9:32 when Northstars captain Liam Manwarring headed to the penalty box for interference. They were unable to score pst the strong Northstars defence. Klugerman would score his hat trick goal at 4:33 as the Adrenaline could not contain him in front of goals (assists Ryan and Ethan Hawes). This was starting to shape up like the game on Saturday night unless the Adrenaline could find a way to stem the Northstars scoring machine. Kubat would add the Northstars 5th goal at 3:15 to give the Northstars a commanding 3 goal lead into the 3rd period. Assists came from Tallberg and Francis Drolet. Shots on goal saw the Northstars outshoot 16 to 9.
The 3rd period saw roughing penalties handed out to Northstars Timothy Stanger and Adrenaline’s Jordan Freeman 5mins into the period. Darcy Flanagan score the Adrenaline’s 3rd goal at 13:23 and as he skated back to the bench tried to gee up the Adrenaline supporters. Northstars youngest player Hunter Ellen would receive a hooking minor at 12:57 but the Adrenaline were unable to capitalise. Casey Kubara would restore the Northstars 3-goal lead at 9:25 (assists Ryan and Brian Funes). Northstars Karel Kubat gave the Adrenaline another chance as he received a tripping minor at 5:14, but the score remained the same. Skachkov would add the Northstars 7th goal with a bit over 2mins remaining (assists Drolet and Tallberg). Three penalties resulted in the last minute of the game (Adrenaline’s Steve Best slashing, Northstars Manwarring roughing and Northstars Ellen hooking). The Adrenaline had had a much better period posting 11 shots to the Northstars 14 shots.
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