North Stars battle past Thunder

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Defending premiers the Newcastle North Stars have sounded a warning to the rest of the competition, downing the Perth Thunder 3-2 in a shootout at the Perth Ice Arena on Saturday night.
 
The North Stars, without imports Brandon Greenside and Josh Harris who are still participating in the SPHL Finals, edged the Thunder in a six-round shootout.
 
North Stars Coach Andrew Petrie said it was a great way to start the weekend and the season, especially on the road.
 
“It’s definitely important to come out here and grab some points on the road, and even more so on a Saturday night, so that way you’re not playing back on your heels on the Sunday,” Petrie said. “Tonight we stuck to our game plan, we played three solid periods of hockey, and obviously this is a team that can win if we do that consistently.”
 
Patrick Nadin  opened the scoring for the North Stars just 32 seconds into the first period, finishing a big push off the first draw that seemed to catch everyone in the packed Perth Ice Arena by surprise.


Thunder Coach Dave Kenway acknowledged his teams’ flat start, but was impressed with their ability to bounce back and get the game to a shootout.
 
“I’ve seen the team skate harder from the opening draw, and early on we needed to have a bit more urgency on the puck, and win those small one on one battles,” Kenway said.

As the North Stars continued their early offensive push, the Thunder looked to hit back physically as the game began to become a board rattling affair at both ends of the ice.
 
The visitors were willing to step up to the challenge and Perth goaltender Thomas Heemskerk was forced to make a few crucial early saves to keep his squad in it.
 
However, it was the Thunder who were able to hit back next with Jonathon Bremner slotted a goal with just under six minutes left in the first to level the scores at the first break.
 
The game remained tight throughout the second, with the Thunder managing to put only seven shots on North Stars keeper Dayne Davis, compared to 16 on Heemskerk.
 
Despite this, there were no additions to the score until midway through the third period when import forward Connor McLaughlin opened his account in the AIHL to give the North Stars the narrow lead.

But the crowd at Perth Ice Arena was in for a tight finish, as a late high sticking call on David Ferrari put the Thunder on the powerplay with just over two minutes left on the clock, allowing Thunder import Benjamin Breault to score the power play goal and sending the teams to a shootout.
 
Thunder Captain Sam Wilson commended the team for their late comeback, but also acknowledged his team’s lack of pace in the second period.
 
“All in all as a group, we did well to get back in that game and tie it up late,” Wilson said. “But obviously it’s always important to come out and play three periods of hockey, and I think that was our biggest mistake tonight, we were only in it for two.”
 
The shootout was a tight affair as well with Connor McLaughlin scoring with the North Stars first shot and Kieren Webster scoring with the Thunder’s third.
 
It took to round six for Jayson Chalker to break the deadlock and give the North Stars the two points.
 
With limited opportunities for AIHL quality pre-season games, Kenway said he was proud of the way his team fought throughout the match.
 
“The Eastern states teams get the Wilson cup, and so they get a lot of pre-season games every year which always helps to cement your systems and prepare as a team,” Kenway said. “But given the circumstances I was impressed with tonight’s performance.”
 
Next week, the North Stars have their home opener, taking on the Ice in a Grand Final rematch, while the Thunder have the week off, before taking on the Mustangs on the weekend of May 7-8.