The Melbourne Ice faced a double header against the tough Canberra Knights this weekend, the Ice were coming off two dramatic shootout losses against Adelaide whilst the Knights would have been excused of feeling confident after pulverising Newcastle.
Saturday night’s game started a game started quickly with both teams sharing possession; it was the Knights however who opened the scoring with 11:26 on the clock which had the Ice fans firmly in their seats. This changed dramatically when the Canberra goalie had something of a brain fade, going behind the goal to collect a loose puck he only managed to pass it to Jason Baclig who was left unguarded by the far post and gratefully popped it into an open net. Jacques Perreault followed soon after thanks to an assist from Joey Hughes and in quick time Matt Armstrong added a third with assists from Joey Hughes and Andrew Erzen. The Ice kept up the pressure for the rest of the period and with a little more than a minute left Obi Aduba scored after a quick one two with Perreault 4-1 going into the second was a deserved score line for the Ice who were getting far more reward for effort than in previous games.
The second period started as it finished for the Ice thanks to Austin McKenzie who scored a quick goal with the assist going to Tommy Powell. A large chunk of the period was dominated by the officials with a large number of players in the box for both sides so many in fact that confusion reigned with who was and who was not allowed on the Ice. When play restarted Joey Hughes slotted one in for the Ice to make the scores 6-1 the assist going to Aduba. With time running out on the clock a strong move from the returning Glenn Mayer was finished by Aduba give the Ice a 7-1 lead, the further assist going to Todd Graham.
The third period was sluggish all round, some questions being asked about the quality of the ice, both teams seemed to be caught out by unexpected bounces and at some stages the puck stopping all together, the Knights had a brief flutter with a goal, but this was the last time the Knights would score thanks in part to a couple of huge save from Stu Denman in the Ice goal. The period and the game was put to bed with time again running out on the clock when Perreault capped off a strong game with a slap shot giving the Knights goalie no chance and giving the Ice an 8-2 win. The fans went home happy and ready for more of the same during Sunday night’s rematch.
Obi drives to the net
The crowd for Sunday’s game was a little bit down from Saturday which is not unusual for double headers but those who were there saw an absorbing game from both teams. Andrew Crowther was given the start in net for the Ice and had to endure a torrid start with the Knights scoring on a power play with 11:05 on the clock. As was the case on Saturday night the puck was flying from end to end and both teams were making the most of their opportunities. Joey Hughes got his first goal of the night thanks to Matt Armstrong and Jason Baclig making the score 1 all. The joy for the Ice was short lived however Canberra scoring only one minute later and re taking the lead.
Yet again the Ice surged and with Tommy Powell from Todd Graham and Jacques Perreault evening up the score at 2 each it really was looking like one of those high scoring nights. Very soon after Jason Baclig put his name on the score sheet with an assist to Perreault and make the scores 3-2 to the Ice. Again the Knights hit back soon after to make the score 3-3, some fans were beginning to ask how many times both sides were going to score. Matt Armstrong joined the fun scoring on the power play to make the score 4-3 in favour to the Ice.
The second period had an early bit of drama when the Knights had a goal disallowed after the goal came of it posts. To the credit of the Knights they did not let the drama affect their game and made the Ice pay for giving the Knights a 5 on three power play to even the game at 4 all. Joey Hughes and Liam Webster show from the Ice seemed like the only two out there, by either spending time in the box or slipping the puck behind the goalie. With 2 goals in quick succession Joey Hughes got his hat trick for the night. The excitement did not end there for the Ice when Liam Webster who, after serving penalty minutes, jumped straight out of the box and onto the score sheet to give the Ice a 7-4 lead to close out the scoring for the period.
The third period was quiet in terms of scoring but not in intensity, a number of flash points threatened to explode. Andrew Crowther for the Ice however had worked his way back into the game and made a number of important saves to maintain the lead for the home team. However there was nothing stopping the Knights from pegging one goal back with 13:15 to go and make the score 7-5. The scores stayed that way until the very last second when Tommy Powell broke away and as the night before put a slap shot past the Knights goalie to give the Ice an 8-5 win.
Article by Gus Harkett
