Saturday night saw the return of the Gold Coast Bluetongues to the Medibank Icehouse to play the Melbourne Ice. For the Bluetongues a win would help them in their quest for a playoff spot while for the Ice a win would secure the Reid Trophy for the minor premiership in the 2011 season. The Ice started the stronger of the teams testing the Gold Coast defence and giving Luke Fiveash a torrid opening period. Indeed it was the Ice who opened the scoring thanks to Lliam Webster who scored from a rebounded shot from Tommy Powell. The Ice continued to press hard for the remainder of the period but was unrewarded until the last 25 seconds when Joey Hughes scored on a power play with assists going to Jacques Perreault and Vinnie Hughes. 2-0 at the end of the first period was a fair reflection of how both teams had played and it would take a big turnaround for the Bluetongues to salvage anything out of the game.
Obi Aduba
Melbourne jumped out of the blocks early in the second period Glenn Mayer was particularly unlucky not to add to the score board with one shot coming of the pipes and another one going agonisingly wide. The Bluetongues made the most of the let offs and with 10:15 left Tobias Falk got on the end of a breakaway, deked Stu Denman in the Ice net and scored to halve the deficit. The main concern for the Ice in the second period was an injury to Kevin Darcy who took a puck to the ankle and had to be helped from the ice. Another ill timed penalty gave the Ice another power play late in the period but Gold Coast managed to hold on to keep the score 2-1 going into the final period of play.
The third period started with the Ice on the remainder of their power play and it did not take long for Melbourne to press their one player advantage with Obi Aduba scoring, the assists going to Perreault and Jason Baclig. The Ice were looking the goods and it did not take long for them to make the score 4-1 thanks to Baclig who finished the work of Lliam Webster and Tommy Powell. The best was to come for Melbourne and Jason Baclig who scored a fine shorthanded goal with Webster and Aduba again in the points for the assists. 5-1 to the Ice would have been a great result but with only 15 seconds left in the game Matt Armstrong put a cherry on the cake with a goal thanks again to Aduba who had a fine game.
14 day break now awaits the Ice, a perfect time for the boys to rest up, and, in the case of Kevin Darcy hopefully recover from any niggling injuries that they may have occurred. Don’t forget the second skate with the player’s night on Tuesday 16th August and the last regular season game on the 27th August against the Sydney Ice Dogs.
Game 27 v Gold Coast Blue Tongues
| SCORING | 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL |
| Melbourne Ice | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Blue Tongues | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| SHOTS | 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL |
| Melbourne Ice | 10 | 10 | 21 | 41 |
| Blue Tongues | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
SCORING SUMMARY
PERIOD 1
Melbourne Ice at 9:55 – Lliam Webster from Tommy Powell
Melbourne Ice at 2:14 – Joseph Hughes from Jacques Perreault and Jason Baclig
PERIOD 2
Gold Coast Blue Tongues at 10:15 – Tobias Falk (unassisted)
PERIOD 3
Melbourne Ice at 14:21 – Obi Aduba from Jacques Perreault and Jason Baclig
Melbourne Ice at 9:40 – Jason Baclig from Lliam Webster and Tommy Powell
Melbourne Ice at 7:00 - Jason Baclig from Lliam Webster and Obi Aduba
Melbourne Ice at 00:15 – Matt Armstrong from Obi Aduba
