Adrenaline bow to Brave

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It was a wild start and a wild finish, but unfortunately for the Adelaide Adrenaline, they couldn't get on the correct side of the craziness.

An undiscipline start for the Adrenaline proved to be Adelaide's downfall in a 5-3 loss on the road to the CBR Brave.

It wasn't a poor showing from the Adrenaline, however. Peter King was exceptional in net despite allowing five goals. Twice he was left out to dry while shorthanded and the others he was simply beat by a pure class effort from the Brave.

New import Jonathan Boxill made his debut for Adelaide, scoring a thir period marker while Canadian Tyler Grove continued his torrid start by adding another goal of his own.

But the game may have been defined in the opening minutes. Within seconds of the puck being dropped, Adelaide forward Darren Corstens exhanged words and fists in a brief scrap that opened the penalty floodgates.

In total the Adrenaline took seven penalties in the first six minutes, with the Brave taking three of their own, in an insanely chippy opening to the game.

The Brave took advantage not once, but twice.

After Peter King made back-to-back miraculous cross crease saves - including a dive across the line to deny star forward Stephen Blunden - the Brave finally snuck one through. Blunden, one of the premiere forwards in the AIHL last season, continued his great play and lit the lamp twice.

The Adrenaline took nine penalties in the opening period and trailed 2-0 at the break.

The first 15 was largely defined by the heavy amount of phyiscal play. The highlight came when Adrenaline forward Ryan Remillard ran over a Brave player at centre ice. Watch the hit below:

 
The second period slowed down dramatically. Chances were few and far in between for either side as the Adrenaline held their ground to keep it 2-0 heading in to the final period. 

They wouldn't have been two down if it weren't for Peter King. With 20 seconds left in the middle period, King scrambled to deny a Brave forward circling out in front of the net in a "How the heck did he make that save?" moment. 



Then came a frantic final period. After the Adrenaline conceeded a third goal, they seemed to turn on the jets.

The Adrenaline trailed by multiple goals in their previous two games and mounted a comeback each time. The story wasn't much different on Saturday.

First it was Wehebe Darge who slotted home a goal midway through the third. Then, moments later, Jonathan Boxill earned a hard fought goal for the boys by scrumming in front of the net. Just like that, it was 3-2 and all the momentum was on the Adrenaline's side.

But it wasn't meant to be. Two quick strikes, with seven and five minutes left to go respectively, for the Brave all but sealed the Adrenaline's fate.

They didn't quit though. Tyler Grove added another beautiful goal with two minutes to play.

Another late comeback surge for the Adrenaline. This one was just too little, too late.

Adelaide will look to salvage a lone win on the weekend on Sunday afternoon vs. the Sydney Bears - the same team they beat last weekend. 

Stay tuned to adelaideadrenaline.com.au and our Facebook page for game updates.