Post-Game Recap: Defending cup champions flex strength in Adelaide

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The Adelaide Adrenaline faced the CBR Brave on Saturday, the 2022 Goodall Cup winner for a double-header weekend.
 
Adelaide played Canberra in their home rink early July and was unable to secure a win.
 
Adelaide travelled away with a short bench, imports Brett Radford, Coy Prevost, and Connor Vermeulen found the scoresheet, and both Adelaide goalies faced 40 shots.
 
Canberra sits on top of the AIHL ladder with 18 wins and four losses. They have secured a playoff spot and showed the talent they have all throughout the season.
 
Jeremy Friederich started in net for Adelaide. He played a big game against the Melbourne Ice last weekend.
 
Canberra local goalie Aleksi Toivonen was in net for the Braves. He comes second in the league standings with a .902 save percentage, a high bracket in a high scoring league.
 
Canberra came into the game with control and power. They dominated the first period on the ice and on the scoresheet.
 
Right off the drop, Austin Albrecht opened the scoring thirty seconds into the game.
 
Adelaide attempted to turn it over, but the puck was intercepted in the neutral zone.
 
Casey Kubara and Charlie York each added another tally for Canberra, scoring top-shelf. 
 
At 14:10, Coy Prevost headed to the penalty box for a two-minute penalty and Brett Radford had a longer stay for a 10-minute misconduct.
 
Adelaide read Canberra’s play well during the penalty kill. They utilised the space on the ice for their positioning.
 
However, Nick Chistensen capitalises on the powerplay opportunity to put Canberra on the four-goal lead.
 
Adelaide skated on a 5-on-3 play shorthanded. This tested their defense and Friederich made some desperate saves.
 
They struggled to clear the zone but successfully killed the penalty
 
Canberra extended their lead to give as Tyler Kubara got the rebound past Friederich, who made the initial save, but it was just too quick.
 
After facing thirteen shots in the first thirteen minutes of the game, Friederich was given a break and Matus Trnka stepped in net.
 
He denied all shots against him for the rest of the period.
 
With five minutes left in the first period, Julian Friederich put Adelaide on the scoresheet with a centring play by Ben Handberg.
 
Adelaide headed to a powerplay, in which Brett Radford found the back of the net when he got the pass from Coy Prevost to make it a 5-2 game.
 
Adelaide was still behind Canberra, but they came onto the second period more structured.
 
Albrecht scored his second goal of the game early into the period, similar to how he opened the scoring.
 
Trnka shook it off and continued his superb play in net.
 
At the 14:19 mark, Brett Radford continued his scoring and tips it in an open slot to try and catch up to Canberra.
 
Canberra attacked again and responded to Adelaide’s previous goal when Felix Plouffe scored their 7^th goal of the game.
 
Despite the game score, Adelaide’s passing was more concise, and they kept the pressure on Canberra.
 
Daniel Chen headed to the penalty box for a tripping call, ensuing to a penalty kill. 
 
Adelaide cleared the zone well to back Trnka up. He made big saves as he was surrounded by Canberra players that were looking to get on the board.
 
The third period saw Adelaide scoreless while Canberra added six goals to their tally.
 
Adelaide’s defense tried to match Canberra’s attack by pushing them off to the side.
 
A delayed penalty got Trnka facing back-to-back shots with Canberra’s extra man on the ice. 
 
The six goals in the third period were by Mitchell Henning, Austin Albrecht, Joseph Hughes, Tyler Kubara, Cameron Marks, and Nick Christensen. 
 
Adelaide faced a double minor, leading to two powerplay goals.
 
Matus Trnka faced Albrecht one-on-one for a penalty shot which he shut down.
 
Coy Prevost made the effort to get the puck out of Adelaide's defensive zone. 
 
The 13-3 loss did not discourage Adelaide. They kept the momentum and fought hard till the last second of the game.
 
Canberra is filled with both import and Australian talents. Adelaide has to support the goalie in net to lessen the volume of shots they face against a high tier team.
 
They play Canberra – the AIHL’s leading team - again tomorrow, hoping for a better outcome.