Recap: Brewers stave off elimination with decisive 8-3 victory over Stars

The Brewers started with a bang and ended with a boom in a decisive 8-3 victory over the Stars to stave off elimination on Friday night.

Had the Brewers lost in regulation their season would have been over.

Instead, the Brewers forwards came out firing and 17-year-old goalie Matus Trnka played as good a game as he's played this season turning away 38 of the 41 shots he faced.

The Stars were hoping to carry over the momentum of an upset victory over the first-placed Xtreme last Friday to secure a finals position.

It looked like the Stars were aligning early when Yoann Levesque scored less than a minute in to the game.

But from that point forward it was all Port Adelaide Brewers.

The catalyst for the offensive onslaught started when Queenslander Harley Anderson stormed up the ice, dangled his way through the Stars' defense and flicked home a sharp angle shot past goalie Glen Forbes-White.

Then the Brewers, who entered the game just 4-41 on the power play on the season, finally capitalised on the man advantaged.

They scored two goals on back-to-back powerplays - one from Zach Boyle and the other from Ben Handberg - to make it 3-1 with 6:45 to play in the first period. 

The Brewers went 3-8 on the power play on the evening while the Stars went 0-7. 

The Brewers didn't stop there. Harley Anderson finished off a nifty Dylan Pope pass on a 2-on-1 to make it 4-1 with just over three minutes to play.

Then Tyler Boyle put the finishing touches on a dominant first period by slotting home a puck to the top corner to make it 5-1 heading into the second.

The Stars did push back but they ran into the wall that was Matus Trnka.

The goalie helped whether a Stars second period surge. Trnka stopped 18 shots in the middle frame, only conceding a goal to Jarrad McDonnell. 

Entering the third period down 5-2 the Stars continued their pushback.

When Jake Hazel stole the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the attacking area, and ripped home a puck to make it 5-3, the Stars must have figured they had a chance. 

Not so fast. In the words of Nelly..."Here comes the boom!"

On the ensuing shift, Tristan Reece scored a goal off a hard shot from the point to make it 6-3. One minute later, Steve Best made it 7-3.

Game over.

Zach Boyle added a power play goal late to consolidate a dominant 8-3 victory.

The Brewers poured 54 shots on net throughout the night to keep their season alive.

Now the pressure is placed firmly on the Stars' shoulders. They need a regulation win to keep their season alive, and then hope for an Xtreme win over the Brewers in the final week of the season. 

The Brewers offensive continues to roll. They've scored 28 goals in their last four games.

SCORING SUMMARY
 

1ST PERIOD

2ND PERIOD

3RD PERIOD