Brave hold on against North Stars

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The CBR Brave look to have turned around an early season slump to hold off a fast finishing Newcastle North Stars in a fiery 5-3 win at Phillip Swimming & Ice Skating Centre on Saturday night.
 
It was yet another physical encounter between these two teams, which are quickly developing one of the hottest rivalries in the Australian Ice Hockey League.
 
A Mathieu Guertin hat-trick and a tremendous effort from young CBR Brave goalie Alex Tetreault was enough to see off the North Stars onslaught, led by Connor McLaughlin and John Kennedy Jr.
 
Tetreault, making his first start of the 2016 season was up to the task, saving 34 of the 37 shots, while Newcastle goalie, Dayne Davis, was solid as usual making a number of huge saves to keep his side in the game, finishing with 21 saves on 25 shots on goal.
 
In a battle of two high-powered offences, with each goalie taking turns to make massive saves, this game was ultimately decided by the power play.
 
The Brave was able to capitalise on its opportunities, scoring three goals on their seven power plays, whereas the North Stars were unable to score on their three chances.
 
North Stars Coach Andrew Petrie lamented the amount of penalties the North Stars drew.
 
“I thought it was a pretty competitive game, I would’ve liked to have seen it played five-on-five a little bit more,” Petrie said.
 
Brave coach, Josh Unice, was pleased with the cohesive and physical play of his side. 
 
“I thought that was a total team game” Unice said, “I thought we played as a unit, we worked as a unit and we were physical. I thought we controlled the physical play”.
 
The Brave led a gallant North Stars throughout the game, but the North Stars fought until the final buzzer.
 
Ultimately, it was the first period double from Mathieu Guertin that sealed the North Stars fate, as the two teams exchanged goals through the remainder of the night.
 
Newcastle forward, John Kennedy Jnr, brought the North Stars to within one goal late in the third period, slotting home a loose puck after Tetreault made a massive save on a savage slap shot from the blue line.
 
The North Stars pulled Davis soon after for the man advantage, but were unable to capitalise.
 
It was CBR Brave Mathieu Guertin who put icing on the cake, completing his hat-trick with less than a minute to go, after launching a shot from the neutral zone into the empty North Stars net.
 
North Stars Coach Petrie praised his team for a hard fought game despite the outcome.
 
“I think we had a pretty consistent effort across the board; we had our captain [Robert Malloy] who broke his hand in probably the first shift, second shift of the game and insisted on playing the rest of the game and did a great job,” Petrie said. “We had a bunch of guys step up and a few guys filled their roles really, really well tonight”
 
CBR Brave Coach Josh Unice pointed to his side’s consistency being they key for the season going forward.
 
“When we have the line-up that we do on paper, and the skill that we have,” Unice said. “When we work like we did tonight, we are a very scary team to play against and we just have to keep it going.”
 
The CBR Brave take to the road next weekend for a double header against the Melbourne Ice next weekend, while the Newcastle North Stars host the Mustangs then the Thunder at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium next Saturday and Sunday night respectively.