PERTH Thunder ice hockey team had mixed fortunes over the weekend, splitting its two-game series against Canberra.
Thunder drew first blood against CBR Brave with a stunning 4-3 win at Perth Ice Arena on Sunday.
The locals were down 3-0 at half time but blasted three unanswered goals in the second half to force a penalty shootout, which Thunder won.
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READ NOWThunder’s import forwards proved the difference in an entertaining contest, scoring a goal each.
The visitors jumped Perth early, stunning the capacity crowd with three goals in the opening ten minutes of the game.
Two Canberra players were then penalised for misconduct and banished to the box for the first nine minutes of the third quarter.
Jessyko Bernard slotted a goal two minutes after half time to make the score 3-1 before Ben Breault then scored off the rush when the sides were skating four on four to cut the deficit to one goal.
The Brave ran into more penalty trouble, conceding a five-on-three power play chance to the Thunder, and Michael Dorr capitalised with a power play goal to tie the scores at 3-3.
Bernard and Breault then scored in the shootout to secure a win.
In the second game of the round, CBR Brave squared the ledger with a 4-2 win.
Michael Dorr and Rob Haselhurst scored for the Thunder, but two power play goals, including one in the final three minutes, were enough to see the Brave over the line.
Canberra took an early 1-0 lead before Dorr tipped in Jessyko Bernard’s shot from the line to level the scores at 1-1.
The Brave took the lead 2-1 after nine minutes of play in the second quarter, but Haselhurst tied the game 20 seconds later.
With the scores tied at 2-2 for a long stretch, it took a power play goal in the final three minutes to break the deadlock, with CBR taking a 3-2 lead before scoring in the last minute for a 4-2 final score.
The Thunder is now third on the ladder and has a bye this weekend before heading to Sydney to face the Sydney Bears and Sydney Ice Dogs on July 23-24.