Bears snatch SO win in third #BattleOfSydney

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The Sydney Bears scored late before claiming the shootout to snatch a 4-3 win over the Sydney Ice Dogs at the Liverpool Catholic Club Sports Complex on Saturday night.
 
The third #BattleOfSydney for 2016 saw the sides go to a second shootout in the season series, following another closely fought game between the cross-town rivals.
 
The game was highlighted by the goalie duel between Australian national team goalies with the Bears’ Anthony Kimlin and the Ice Dogs’ Charlie Smart both performing strongly with some clutch saves.
 
Bears Coach Ron Kuprowsky said the duel added to the spectacle for the packed crowd.
 
“[It came down to] which goalie’s going to crack and neither of them did,” Kuprowsky said. “We had to go to four shots in a shootout to see which one’s going to crack so it was a commendable game for both goalies and I’m sure they’re both pretty proud of it.”
 
Ice Dogs Coach Vlad Rubes was upbeat about the performance of his side despite the loss.
 
“I think we played quite well,” Rubes said. “It was a good pace; we had chances. It’s just discipline has to be better if we want to succeed in Newcastle.”
 
The Ice Dogs got off to the perfect start when Captain Scott Stephenson cleaned up the scraps in front of the Bear net to give the Ice Dogs the lead just over a minute into the game.
 
However, ill-discipline played a role in the Bears response, scoring on a power play just over two minutes later through Cameron Todd, who was in the right place at the right time when Smart fumbled a shot from the point from Brian Funes.
 
While David Harmati’s goal from a face-off midway through the period gave the Dogs a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period, it was going to be a close match as Todd slotted his second goal in the early exchanges of the second period to draw the sides level.
 
The game had plenty of feeling which was reflected in the high penalty count with nine penalties in the second period.
 
Both sides had plenty of chances but couldn’t crack the two goalies.
 
Smart was strong, particularly against a five-on-three opportunity midway through the period, holding out the Bears, who seemed to be closing in on the outnumbered Dogs, who did well to force the visitors to shoot from the outside.
 
The game remained scoreless throughout the second period and most of the third until Ice Dogs import Grant Toulmin received a stretch pass from Strat Allen, putting him on the breakaway.
 
Toulmin made no mistake, slotting the goal and giving the Ice Dogs the lead with just over two minutes remaining.
 
Sensing they may drop another game, the Bear took a timeout, scoring off the ensuing face-off through Brent Vandenberg and sending the teams to a shootout locked at 3-all.
 
New Bears import Nic Kawasaki slotted a shot at the bottom of the first round, before Paul Swindlehurst calmly drew the shootout at the top of the third round broken up by strong saves from both goalies.
 
Going to a sudden death fourth round, Brent Vandenberg held his nerve to slot the game winner.
 
Kuprowsky said the win was a “momentum builder” for the Bears.
 
“The big thing we’re taking from this is even when we’re down we’re not out,” Kuprowsky said. “We’re going to fight right to the final buzzer. We put pressure on, finally got that goal at the end and put on a little more pressure at the very end there going for the win. We just ran out of time but it was a good character win for the boys.
 
Rubes was disappointed about the end result but pleased to continue accumulating the points.
 
“We got one point out of the game so it’s not a real loss but we started really well, scored a goal and then we thought it was going to happen itself,” Rubes said. We had a few silly plays which gave them the wind in their sails. It was disappointing but we got one point, they got two – it’s not much difference.”
 
Both sides are in action in two games next weekend with the Bears facing the Adelaide Adrenaline in a double header in Adelaide, while the Ice Dogs host the Perth Thunder on Saturday and the Melbourne Mustangs on Sunday.