The Sydney Ice Dogs claimed a third straight win, downing the Sydney Bears 2-1 in a hard-fought contest at the Liverpool Catholic Club.
The win saw the Ice Dogs temporarily enter the top four for the first time in 2014 with the North Stars and Adrenaline succumbing to losses on Saturday.
For the Bears, it was the ninth straight loss for a team that was up towards the top of the ladder earlier in the season. With Vlad Rubes out of the country, assistant coach Steve Austin took the reins of the team, saying it was tough to go so close to break the losing streak.
“I kind of feel for our players because we played really hard tonight,” Austin said. “I thought we might have had this one. You live and learn; we’re still a young team. It’s just hard when you get those chances and they don’t go your way. I’ve got to hand it to the Dogs. I can’t knock them, they’re a good team and they’ve always been good and tough. There’s a big rivalry but at least we gave them a go.”
Ice Dogs coach Andrew Petrie said that he wasn’t entirely happy with the performance but was pleased that his charges worked hard to claim the win.
“The first period I was really happy with them,” Petrie said. “The second period we just didn’t seem emotionally in it. It was a very flat period. I thought it didn’t even look like AIHL standard at some points so I had a few words to say in between two and three. I did congratulate them on showing some grit and determination to get the go-ahead goal and protect it.”
A tightly contested match from the outset, the Ice Dogs were dominant in the first period, outshooting the Bears 12-4.
Daniel Palmkvist proved to be the difference, saving several strong chances in a consummate performance. However, it lasted until 77 seconds before the end of the period when Paul Baranzelli claimed the opening goal off Matt Monaghan.
Monaghan, an 81-game veteran of the Ice Dogs who returned to fill Simon Barg’s spot as he waits for the imminent birth of his first child, drew praise from Petrie after proving a valuable asset to call on.
“Matt’s a good mate of mine,” Petrie said. “We’ve played summer league together and we have for a long time. I rang him up and asked him if he was interested and he very quickly said that he was. He did everything we asked of him tonight. He hadn’t been on the ice in four or so months except for the two practices so we’re very happy indeed.”
“We’re not 100% sure what Simon’s situation is as of right now but it’s any time now,” Petrie said of Barg. “They’ve been in and out of the hospital a few times. On behalf of all the players and myself, we’d like to wish Simon and his wife Ashley all the luck in the world for the endeavour they are about to embark on.”
When Ben Di Marco scored for the Bears after his side evened out the shots on goal, the game was set for a great finish.
The final period was fiercely contested with both goaltenders earning their keep with several clutch saves.
However, with the advantage of a power play, Ice Dogs captain Robert Malloy claimed his 11th goal of the season with a scintillating slap shot from the point, beating Bears goalkeeper Daniel Palmkvist.
Despite the loss, Petrie was full of praise for both goalkeepers.
“You have to give credit where credit is due,” he said. “The Bears goalie had an outstanding game and I told him that after the game as well. I thought he played very well.”
“In some ways it’s harder when you aren’t seeing the puck as much and when you do see it, it’s a really good shot; in some ways it’s harder to make that save,” he continued about Ice Dogs keeper Tim Noting. “I don’t want to blow his tyres up too much but, I’ve been really happy with Tim of late.”
Austin said that Palmkvist was a big reason that the Bears have been more competitive this season.
“If we didn’t have him we’d struggle,” he said. “One of our key things in the off-season was to get a good import goalie. We also wanted to get a good import defence but we made the decision to go with the guys that we have. The imports are good but we rely too much on them sometimes which is why tonight I thought it would be good to run the whole bench and let everybody play and the team got in a groove.”
Also missing the strike power of captain Michael Schlamp, who is in Canada, and Australian representative forward Cameron Todd, who is out with an injury sustained in the Bears game against the Melbourne Ice the week before, Austin said it was good to see his team play in the way they did.
“I’m really proud of the guys because they did step up,” Austin said. “We played hard. We know it’s getting towards the end of the season if we don’t do something and tonight was a good effort. I think we played better without them [Schlamp and Todd] than with them. I don’t mean it in a negative way but I’m just saying it gave the other guys an opportunity to have a go.”
Both teams were in action on Sunday. The Bears will play the Ice on Saturday and Mustangs on Sunday in Melbourne, while the Ice Dogs travel to Canberra to take on the Brave before tackling the Adrenaline at the LCC.
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ICE DOGS
RHINOS
ADRENALINE
BEARS
THUNDER
ICE
BRAVE
LIGHTNING
NORTHSTARS
MUSTANGS
