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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	4	4	0	12
Thunder	6	4	2	12
Bears	4	3	1	9
Mustangs	2	1	1	3
Ice Dogs	5	1	4	3

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
Northstars	4	3	0	1	0	11
Lightning	6	3	3	0	0	9
Adrenaline	3	1	1	0	1	4
Brave	6	1	5	0	0	3
Rhinos	4	0	4	0	0	0

SCORING LEADERS

Jeremiah
Addison (PER)

Player	Points
Aiden Wagner (NNS)	18
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	15
francis Drolet (NNS)	15
Zane Jones (PER)	13

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.933
Leo Bertein (PER)	.905
Charles Smart (NNS)	.903

Bears fight back to down Thunder in shootout

Monday, May 25, 2015 - Submitted by Chris McRae

The Sydney Bears have come from 4-1 down in the third period to defeat Perth Thunder for the second time in the weekend’s series, taking a 5-4 win in the shootout at the Perth Ice Arena Sunday night.

The loss was the Thunder’s second loss of the season after losing Saturday night’s game against the Bears.

The Thunder seemed to be well on the way to victory leading by three goals midway through the final period but the Bears fought hard, scoring the game-tying goal with 33 seconds remaining with Joseph Harcharik’s hat-trick goal.

Both teams had solid opportunities early in the first period as Mark McCann in his first start and second game for the Thunder settled in well and Bears netminder Kamil Jarina prevented the Thunder from getting on the board.

It took two-and-a-half minutes for the first goal of the game with Joseph Harcharik striking early for the Bears.

Fresh off being shutout on Saturday night, the goal seemed to spark the Thunder and the home side began applying more pressure.

It took some magic from import Luc Daigneault to lock the scores at 1-all with 10 minutes remaining in the period.

Both teams took early opportunities for shots on goal with the Thunder particularly strong in offensive pressure and the Bears taking their time to set up slick break outs from their end.

Thunder coach Dave Kenway noted the penalites had an impact on the pace of the game.

“The penalties, both ways, disrupted the flow,” Kenway said. “Lots of four-on-four’s disrupted the period.”

With four minutes remaining in what was a frenetic and relentless period, Daigneault struck again for the Western Australians, giving the Thunder a 2-1 lead and the team’s first lead of the weekend.

A late Sydney shot on goal nearly resulted in a short handed goal for the Bears, but connected with the crossbar instead of the net, handing the Thunder a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.

The third period began with both sides eager to score next.

It was the Thunder who struck first – and twice - through Kieran Webster and Toni Kluuskeri, putting them 4-1 up.

The Bears weren’t done with yet. Cameron Todd, assisted by Esposito, slotted one for the visitors, bringing the scoreline to 4-2.

The Bears capitalised further with Harcharik scoring his second, burying a short-range shot to pull the visitors to 4-3 and back into the game.

Both Dave Kenway and Bears coach Vlad Rubes saw covering penalty kills as a key focus for both teams going forward. “We’ll focus a bit more on the penalty kill this week,” Kenway said. “We just need to brush up on some of those things that we were doing really well at the start of the season.”

Rubes also felt his team needs to focus on their penalty kill.

“In a game with a lot of penalties, you need to be ready for penalty kills and be able to score on the PK,” Rubes said.

After a Bears time out and with only 33 seconds remaining in regulation, Harcharik stepped up with his hat-trick goal, forcing the game into a shootout.

Both goalies came up with big saves in the shootout. However it was Kamil Jarina who denied Thunder imports Luke Judson, Toni Kluuskeri and Luc Daigneult, while Harcharik slotted his attempt. The goal gave Sydney Bears a 5-4 come-from-behind victory and five out of six possible points on the road trip.

Bears coach Vlad Rubes felt that his team were on the back foot for most of the game.

“We came out and scored the first goal but they were always one step ahead of us,” Rubes said. “They skated hard. We made some silly mistakes and they got a couple of goals.”

All in all, Rubes was happy with his team’s efforts on the weekend.

“I don’t think they (the Thunder) played as well as we thought they would yesterday and they came out stronger today,” Rubes said. “Five points out of six is a pretty good on a road trip.”

Kenway was optimistic about the Thunder going into next week.

“The boys will learn from Saturday’s result,” Kenway said. “We came out flat yesterday and obviously tonight’s result is hard to stomach. We just need to make sure our boys are fit and healthy and ready to play Thunder hockey next week.”

Next week Perth Thunder head to Melbourne for a double header against 2014 Goodall Cup champions the Melbourne Mustangs. The Bears face the Newcastle North Stars at home in Penrith on Saturday night.

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