Adrenaline VS Thunder Recap - Saturday 15th June

The Adelaide Adrenaline were looking to extend their winning streak at home this weekend as they opened a double header against the Perth Thunder on Saturday.

Speed and agility have been the Adrenaline’s strengths for much of the season and today was no different, especially from Daniel Chen and Nikita Loria who consistently chased the puck and moved it up the ice. Andrew Chen and Noah Maley worked together to create a number of two-on-one chances putting Thunder goaltender Leo Bertein to the test early on.

The Thunder were without popular forward Jeremiah Addison but newly signed import Natan Vertes stepped up and opened the scoring late in the first period. The Adrenaline responded early in the second with Kaden Elder skating the puck in from centre ice and quickly putting it past Bertein. Josh Adkins later took advantage of the first powerplay of the day by setting up Elder to score from the point, giving him his sixth goal in the last two games and giving the Adrenaline a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

“The reason that I’m getting those opportunities is because of these other guys,” Elder says. “They’re all playing the right way and they’re giving me opportunities to get the puck, so it’s definitely a 6-man game on that ice.”

Rylan Toth showed once again why he is one of the league’s top goaltenders by making some incredible saves, especially in the third period as penalties for both teams began to roll in. Zach Boyle and Daniel Koudelka were also in front of the net to deflect a number of scoring opportunities and keep the puck moving.

“We’re working a lot more defensively this year," Maley says. “We put in a lot of effort getting in guys like Dosanjh, Price, Greer, and Koudelka so we’ve got a way better defensive structure now and it’s really paying off.” 

A late goal in the third by Thunder’s David Kudla forced the game into a 3-on-3 overtime with Adrenaline fans on their feet chanting their support for the home team. Elder, Adkins, and Chen couldn’t come up with a goal in the shootout which led to Natan Vertes securing the overtime 3-2 win for the Thunder.

Heading into Sunday’s rematch, Elder believes the Adrenaline has what it takes to control the Thunder:

“We’re going to try and wear them down and play the way we’ve been playing today and last weekend. I think it's really going to help us in the long run.”

Puck drop at the Ice ArenA for game two of this series is at 4:15pm.

-Joanna Gruenberg