Thunder secures crucial shootout win over Mustangs

The Perth Thunder secured an important win over the Melbourne Mustangs in a game that took a shootout to decide the winner at Perth Ice Arena on Saturday.

The Mustangs were eager for points in order to keep their 2017 Finals hopes alive whilst they battle with the Sydney Ice Dogs for fourth place.

The Perth Thunder take the shootout win at home and two points. Photo: Richard Sak.

The Thunder however were coming off a bye, and although Christian Ouellet was quick to give them an early 1-0 lead 11 minute into the first, the game lacked momentum during the first period at times, as both teams appeared to be finding their rhythm.

Perth’s impact player Ben Breault commented on the team’s form.

“We had a bit of a slow start today, but we were also missing a couple key defensemen and that showed at times,” said Breault after the game.

“Tomorrow, hopefully it’ll be a quicker game after everyone got on the ice today and got going, but this time of year it’s always big to take points.”

The Mustangs were able to answer Perth’s first goal before the conclusion of the opening period as Pat O’Kane netted his 14^th goal of the season on a powerplay with only 17 seconds left in the opening frame, taking the score one-a-piece into intermission.

The second period saw both teams maintain their battle for momentum and possession as the Mustangs continued to put pressure on the Thunder’s defence, looking for ways to beat Peter Di Salvo in net.

A sudden rush from the back end in the form of Thunder’s defencemen Alastair Punler caught the Mustangs’ blueline off guard, and Punler’s end-to-end conversion saw Perth take the lead and brought the home crowd to its feet.

The teams entered the locker rooms with Perth up 2-1, twenty minutes remaining on the clock and plenty to focus on.

For the Thunder, a solid period would put them one step closer to locking in a Finals spot for the fourth time in their short history. For the Mustangs a winning final period would help them secure crucial points for their Finals race.

Both teams appeared to have that in mind as the pace picked up in the third period. The visitors upped the pressure: forcing Di Salvo to stand up big in the Thunder net as the home team was outshot 18 to 8 in the final twenty minutes of play.

The Mustangs applied pressure in the third period, maintaining possession in the offensive zone which helped to convert. Photo: Richard Sak.

Special teams became a key factor: while the Thunder was forced to kill off several penalties the Mustangs gained chances to capitalise on the momentum building in their favour.

Eventually their persistence paid off as Mustangs’ – having maintained pressure in the offensive zone for too long for the Thunder to control, Anton Kokkonen managed to beat Di Salvo, set up by an assist from O’Kane to tie the game 2-2.  Kokkonen has delivered consistent offensive power for the Melbourne team and his partnership with O’Kane is one other teams will need to break down if they reach the Finals.

Despite Melbourne eagerly chasing a win, the scores remained level at the end of regulation time. In the shootout only Jessyko Bernard could convert, taking the shootout win and two points for the home team, putting Perth one win away from locking up their Finals spot for 2017.

Di Salvo faced 18 shots on goal in the final frame, and stood tall for his team throughout the shootout. Photo: Corey Lunt.

Although Mustangs Coach Michael Flaherty was admittedly happy taking any points away from the game (one point for a shootout loss), he felt his team could split the weekend if they put more pressure on Di Salvo’s net when the chance arises.

“He’s one of the better goalies in the league, said Flaherty, and you have to make him work harder than we did tonight in order to beat him.”

“We outshot them today and in the third especially we had chances to take a lead. That one point still gives us some breathing room, but tomorrow we need to come out of the gate better, and try and push the play early on.”

The Mustangs will encounter the Thunder again Sunday 4:30pm (local) at Perth Ice Arena as they try desperately to gain an advantage in the standings.