Brave strike late to overcome Thunder

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The CBR Brave kicked off the team’s first trip to Perth with a 3-1 win over the Thunder on Saturday night.
 
With the International Ice Hockey Tour rolling through Perth recently, there seems to have been greater enthusiasm in the non-traditional hockey market which was made evident over the weekend with Perth Thunder enjoying record breaking attendance numbers at both their games. Coach and general manager Stan Scott said he was delighted with the turn out.
 
“The International Ice Hockey Tour was incredible for the marketing of our club, the AIHL and IHA,” Scott said. “I think we had about a 20% increase in ticket sales, but we also created a lot more public awareness and that was our goal.” 
 
Without star forward Stephen Blunden in the squad due to suspension, the Brave got off to a quick start when Finnish import Anton Kokkonen found the back of the net in just over 30 seconds into the game.
 
The home crowd didn’t have to worry for long though with Andrew Cox continuing his five-game scoring streak, evening things up just 13 seconds later.
 
While the game was indicating a high scoring affair, it became a struggle with regular trips to the penalty box for both teams throughout the remainder of the first stanza.
 
The second period began with the score being tied up at 1-all and it fast turned into a goalie showdown between Mathieu Dugas and Petri Pitkanen. Both goaltenders put in solid performances that kept their respective teams score sheet blank for period.
 
The third period brought no joy for the home team with their 11 shots on goal being unable to find their way into the net due to a stellar performance by Brave goalie Pitkanen.
 
Meanwhile, with Blunden out, the Brave were down to a Dynamic duo of Mathieu Ouellette and Kokkonen. As the Canberrans have throughout the season, they looked to the pair who were able to add  two goals in the final 10 minutes.
 
Ouellette was able to secure the game winning goal with some assistance from Kokkonen but returned the favour under 4 minutes later when he help Kokkonen out with a shorthanded goal that sealed the game.
 
Perth Thunder Forward Jonathon Bremner believed the two teams were well matched but fatigue may have been his teams undoing.
 
“The Brave are a good team, we knew that,” Bremner said. “But they really only have one dangerous line we needed to contain and we weren't able to do that for periods of the game. Kokkonen had way too much room to make plays and I think that’s going to be the difference whenever you play Canberra.”
 
“Running just the two lines took its toll on our top guys. We weren't able to make a push in the third and they got two past us late in the game. It was close for the first two periods but fresher legs won in the end.”
 
Thunder coach Scott thought both teams played well and it was only minor hiccups that let his team down.
 
“I thought we started the game without focus letting them score in the first thirty seconds,” Scott said. “Then we jumped straight back a minute later. After that it was a very even contest where they took their chances and we couldn’t finish.”
 
The Thunder and Brave played again on Sunday night.
 
Next week the Thunder host the ladder-leading Mustangs while the Brave are at home to the North Stars on Saturday night before travelling to Sydney to play the Bears on Sunday.