It was another high scoring affair in Adelaide as the Adrenaline defeated the Melbourne Mustangs 8-7 in a shootout at IceArenA on Sunday afternoon.
The first period saw eight goals as the Adelaide Adrenaline shot out of the gates to lead the Mustangs 5-3 at the end of the first period.
Joseph Rezek opened the scoring within 20 seconds of the opening faceoff, slotting a low left slap shot past Melbourne goalie Fraser Carson’s stick.
Seconds later, Adelaide import Jonathan Boxill stunned Melbourne, collecting a rebound of another Rezek shot and flicking it into the net with finesse to have two goals inside the first 45 seconds of the game.
Adelaide head coach Ryan O’ Handley said he was happy with the way his team has started, but they cannot get too emotional and become complacent.
“We have started the last three games really well,” he said. “The two Canberra games we got off to big leads, big lead to start tonight. Our problem is we’re getting too emotionally high, and it’s that emotional roller coaster. We’ve got to push out of the gate early, but when we’ve got a lead we’ve got to learn how to control our emotions.”
Melbourne responded when Jamie Bourke gathered a loose puck in front of an open net and hammered it home.
The Mustangs started to put pressure on the Adrenaline and drew a penalty to give the side a power play.
However, Wehebe Darge and Darren Corstens joined forces on a two-on-one to restore the two-goal Adrenaline lead.
Canadian import Kory Helowka added another for the Adrenaline before the Melbourne Mustangs scored two through Joseph Hughes and Jamie Bourke, resulting in Adelaide goalie Peter King being replaced by Charlie Smart.
Boxill added his second to give the home side a 5-3 lead after an action-packed opening stanza.
The Mustangs drew within one early in the second period when Vadim Virjassov scored, and Adelaide started to look a bit scrappy.
Joey Hughes scored his second to draw the Mustangs level after a one-two with Corey Banfield, leaving Charlie Smart out of goal and unable to make his ground.
Melbourne Mustangs head coach Brad Vigon thought Adelaide outworked his side in the first period, but they regained some composure in the second.
“They outworked us in the first period, and I said if we don’t raise our work rate they’ll run us off the ice,” Vigon said. We know we’re going to get goals if we do the right thing.”
“We knew if we got pucks to the net and work them, we’d be able to make a game of it.”
Adelaide regained the lead in the final minute of the period when, on the powerplay, Helowka scored between Carson's left pad and the goalpost.
The Mustangs came out firing in the final period, and they were rewarded with two goals and the lead for the first time in the match going into the final moments of the match.
Brendon McDowell scored on the powerplay after the puck rebounded off Smart’s pads, then Jeffrey Grant gave Melbourne the lead with a wraparound goal.
Adelaide looked determined and pulled Smart from goal for an extra attacker, but barely before he left the ice, Josh Harding scored the equaliser.
Adrenaline coach Ryan O’Handley replaced Smart with King for the shootout, which appeared to be a genius move as King stopped all three shots, while Helowka scored on the Adrenaline’s third shot, to give Adelaide another high scoring win at home and keep their final fate in their own hands.
“If you ask the boys in the rooms, he’s [King] outstanding in the shootouts, and last year he won seven out of eight,” O’Handley said. “He’s won the majority so it was actually a plan - it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision.”
Adelaide face the first-placed North Stars in an important double-header in Adelaide next week, while the Mustangs head to Sydney where they will meet the Sydney Bears on Saturday and Sydney Ice Dogs on Sunday.