Northstars Battle in the West

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The Newcastle Northstars played in Perth this weekend, losing 2-4 on Saturday night in regulation time and 2-3 on Sunday night in a penalty shootout.
 
Saturday, the Northstars started new goal tender Mitsuaki Inoui in the net, and despite playing a hard game, they suffered numerous penalties, which slowed momentum down.
 
After a scoreless first period, period two was full of action with lots of penalties.
 
Perth’s first two goals were scored short-handed as Northstars were on a powerplay but could not capitalise on these opportunities, nor could that lock down the opposing play. The teams went to the period two break with Perth leading 0-2 over the visiting Newcastle team.
 
Period three had a lot of action as Daniel Berno scored a powerplay goal to get the visitors on the board. Perth responded by extending their lead, and Kyler Matthews closed that gap again. Perth would find the net one more time to take the win 2-4 on Saturday
 
Head coach Kevin Noble shared, “We won the special teams battle on Saturday, so there’s no excuses there. The issue was we gave up two shorthanded goals. You just can’t give up shorthanded chances like that and expect to be successful.”
 
Sunday night saw Charlie Smart in between the pipes as the starting goal tender. Being originally from Perth, he felt right at home and had a fantastic game..
 
Daniel Berno again opened the scoring for the visiting Northstars with a powerplay goal, but Perth would equalise before the first break.
 
Fighting hard, the energy of the game was fast-paced and end-to-end, with fewer whistles, more 5v5 hockey, and fewer penalties than the previous night's match-up.
 
Period two was scoreless, setting up the last 20 minutes as an action-packed, exciting period three. Both teams hit the ice with momentum, moving the puck end to end, with scoring opportunities for both sides.
 
Francis Drolet would get the first goal of the period, putting the visitors ahead for the first time this weekend.
 
Both teams battled over the puck on the ice, but the regulation clock wound down, and we went to 3v3 over time.
 
A scoreless 5mins for 3v3 overtime meant we would go to shoot out. Northstars dominated possession in overtime but couldn’t seal the win.
 
It took 9 shoot-out rounds to get the winner, and Perth would be the final victors.
 
“I thought on Saturday that we were right there in the game and for the game on Sunday, overall, the effort was there. There was no lack of effort or attention to detail.” Noble continued, “It was a good battle, and we unfortunately just didn’t have it offensively, but it was a good weekend of hockey.”
 
“Offensively we weren’t able to generate as much as we usually have been able to do in the first third of the game, and that really allowed the other team to not have to get stretched out so much.”
 
“Both games were hard fought and to get a point out of Sunday was good considering where we are with injuries and our roster being short.”
 
“Sunday was exceptional from the guys and I’m really proud of the overall effort all weekend,” Noble finished.
 
 
Northstars return for a double header at home next weekend.
Saturday 8^th June – vs Melbourne Ice
Sunday 9^th June – vs Perth Thunder
 
Tickets available at northstars.thundertix.com – they are selling fast!