Wardlaw's big night pushes Xtreme one win away from Championship

Xander Wardlaw turned in a performance for the ages as the Adelaide Xtreme moved one game away from winning the first NHSL Championship.

The Xtreme skated to a 6-4 victory in a contest that was closer than the score line suggests. The Xtreme outshot the Brewers 48-29 and while it was a dominant team effort Xander Wardlaw jumped off the score sheet.

He scored five goals and added an assist. Joey MacDougall had four assists in support.

In true Brewers fashion, they made it difficult. But it wasn’t enough.

With the crowd roaring and anticipation building, the Xtreme came out firing.

With chants of “Brewers” echoing from a pocket of passionate fans at the IceArenA, the Xtreme scored 13 seconds into the game. Nathaniel Benson found Xander Wardlaw for his first of the night.. The NHSL’s leading point man popped home a goal and the Xtreme had an early 1-0 lead.

The ice must have been tilted one direction because the Xtreme controlled the play and tempo for the majority of the opening stanza. Matus Trnka made a few handy saves in net while the team killed off a crucial 5-on-3 Xtreme advantage.

At one point the shots read 17-8 in favour of the Xtreme.

Wardlaw added his second of the game in tight just past the midway point and the Xtreme asserted themselves to a 2-0 lead.

The Brewers weathered the storm. A late powerplay had Zach Boyle rip one in from the point to make it 2-1 and salvage what was predominantly an Xtreme period.

The Xtreme came out guns ablazing in the second period.

Xander Wardlaw consolidated his hattrick in tight to make it 3-1. His celebration while taunting a group of Brewers fans copped a two minute penalty. But the Xtreme killed it off and Wardlaw scored his fourth of the game on his first shift back on.

Minutes later, Wardlaw stopped, popped and dished a puck to Benson across the crease. 5-1 Xtreme at the midway point and a staggering 30-13 shot advantage.

Harley Anderson breathed some life back into the Brewers with four minutes to go when he sniped Jeremy Friederich off the wing.

Then with 0.1 seconds left in the second, Tomek Sak slapped home a power play goal to make it 5-3 going into the third.

However, two early penalties to the Brewers gave the Xtreme a 5-on-3 advantage. They missed out on their first opportunity earlier in the game but not this time.

Wardlaw again settled down a puck at the point and ripped one past Trnka.

The Brewers goalie had another big night with his third straight game of 40+ saves.

Steve Best redirected a Nic Pau shot past Friederich to keep the team tight with about seven minutes to play. After that, it was all Xtreme.

A constant forecheck and hardwork kept the puck away from the Brewers and the Xtreme skated away 6-4 winners.

Game 4 of the best-of-five series goes on Friday 18 March. The Championship could be won.

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