It was a battle in the west as the Newcastle Northstars travelled to take on Perth Thunder in Week 9 of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).

Two shorthanded goals on Saturday night, scored by Rob Haselhurst and Ville Tenosalmi, would put the home team ahead 2-0. Northstars’ Daniel Berno and Kyler Matthews would score two powerplay goals as the visitors fought to close the gap, but Yu Hikosaka and Kieren Webster would net one each to secure the victory for the home team.

With 17 penalties throughout the game, neither team could find momentum, relying on the special teams throughout the game.

Perth Head Coach Ben Breault shared, “The game on Saturday was a pretty good effort, especially in the third period, to hold onto it and get the 4-2 win. They were missing guys like (Wehebe) Darge, and we didn’t know what kind of goalie Mitsuaki Inoui was going to be, so we just wanted to make sure that we tested them early.”

“Saturday was a bit of a challenge,” Breault continued, “with the amount of penalties that were going each way. I think from that game the hardest things was just to get into a groove and some kind of momentum for both teams, so neither of the coaches were happy about that. When you go in with a game plan, it’s challenging when all of a sudden you’re faced with running your special teams so much and those players would get tired quicker.”

Perth defender, John Kennedy Jnr shared, “Sometimes you’ve got to take what the game gives you, we were going against a new goalie and there wasn’t much of a scouting report behind him and he does very well down low.”

Sunday night was an edge-of-your-seat game with 5v5 hockey and fewer penalties, allowing both teams to skate their full bench. With 43 shots by Perth and 41 shots by Newcastle, this was a game of opportunities, and the goalies stood on their heads to keep their teams in the game.

Northstars Daniel Berno scored first on the powerplay, and Thunder’s Kieren Webster responded a few moments later to take the game to a 1-1 first intermission. With no goals in the second period, both teams came out fast and eager in the third.

Francis Drolet scored first for the Northstars, putting them ahead, but six minutes later, Benjamin Berard equalised the game, taking us to overtime and a shootout.

In a nine-round shootout, Alexander Yuill and Francis Drolet would score for the Northstars, but Perth Thunder’s Jeremiah Addison would secure a shoot-out hat trick to secure the victory for the Thunder.

Northstars Head Coach Kevin Noble shared, “I think offensively we struggled a little bit to push at times when we needed to, but in saying that, both games were really hard fought.”

“To get a point out of yesterday considering where we are right now in terms of injuries and our roster being quite short, I am proud of the overall effort all weekend.”

“While the result isn’t there in terms of the points, the process, the compete level, and the attention to detail says a lot more about our team through the adversity we’re going through. I was pleased with how we managed to scrape what we put out of that weekend against a good Perth team,” Noble finished.

Breault shared, “We knew these were going to be big games against them (Newcastle) and we end up facing them three times in the next four games, so we tried to use those games at home to set the tone.”

“On Sunday,” Breault continued, “it was a bit more of an easy game, we both were a bit more tired and just didn’t go as hard on Saturday and we didn’t have as many penalties, and it was a good display for both teams.”

“It was our first overtime this season, and as a fan I’m sure it was really cool to watch the nine shootout (rounds). Charlie Smart came into the second game and played in front of his friends and family with some big shoes to fill on the back of Mitsuaki Inoue’s performance.”

“It was a great display from our goalie Leo Bertein where he found a way to shut the door, he’s very hard to beat in shootouts.”

Kennedy shared his thoughts on the weekend doubleheader against Newcastle, saying, “The team is maturing as a group, being able to play in those tight situations without panicking. Everybody wants to be in those tight games at the end of the year, but if you don’t go through adversity during the season, then you’re not going to be prepared for it.”

“Within the locker room and on the bench, more encouragement coming from teammates and not the panic or angst that usually comes from a tight game helps the consistency with our play. The weekend was good top to bottom and that would be from the maturity in the room.”

“Everyone’s looking at the standings and within our division it’s very competitive. We’re fighting tooth and nail to climb the ladder and everyone’s thinking about the points.”

“Our mind is set on consistent shifts, making sure that we’re playing strong defensively, making sure that offensively we’re not leaving ourselves open for attacks on the other end. It’s a team game and we have a lot of depth. If one line isn’t clicking, we have two other lines that are very powerful.”

“At any moment any one of our lines can put up goals, can put up points and we’re pretty solid on the back end. Once again, going back to the word maturity, it’s having trust within each other.”

“Ice hockey is a game of inches, so finding how to turn those inches onto your side and into your advantage and win those small battles along the way.”

In the nine round penalty shootout Kennedy shared his view of Addison’s hattrick to win the game, “When Jeremiah got the first goal I was like sweet, that’s what he’s here for. Then he got the second one and I was like, absolutely right. Then he hit the third one and its just like, this guy’s out of control, his release is great.”

“It just shows what he’s capable of and being one of the top point scorers in the league, if he’s not getting points in the game, he can get frustrated, at the end of (the shootout) he had the big smile with the gap tooth, he’s definitely a player that thrives on those pressure situations so that was pretty cool.”

Next the Newcastle Northstars are at home on Saturday 8^th June against Melbourne Ice, and on Sunday 9^th June against Perth Thunder.

Perth Thunder will play the Sydney Bears on Saturday the 8^th June and up to the Northstars the next day.