Groovin and Grove-in!

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The Adelaide Adrenaline emerged victorious in their opening home game of the season in front of a packed out Ice ArenA at Thebarton tonight.
 
Goals from veteran Captain Greg Oddy and Canadian import Tyler Grove led the home team to a 2-0 victory, the result reminiscent of a tight and physical encounter, in which the Adrenaline always looked the more dominant side.
 
The win awarded fresh-faced goaltender Charlie Smart his first AIHL shutout and third win in as many starts for the Adrenaline.
 
Smart, who came over from Perth Thunder in the off-season was pivotal in the victory, making some key saves down the stretch and looked solid for the duration.
 
“It was a pretty good effort by everyone, gotta give the credit to the boys though,” Smart said.
 
Coach Ryan O’Handley was overall satisfied with his side’s performance but acknowledged the team still has room for improvement, particularly in staying disciplined throughout.
 
“Truth be told we got put down a man, we probably deserved to be, we can’t be doing that in the future otherwise we are going to get burned,” O’Handley said.
 
Fortunately despite some lapses in discipline, the Adrenaline were not hurt and solid penalty killing ensured they were able to hold the momentum for the majority of the encounter.
 
The game began energetically as expected, however tight checking and solid defence meant scoring chances were tough to come by.
 
The Adrenaline had the better zone control in the early stages but were unable to convert time in the offensive end to shots on net and were easily outshot by the Bears.
 
Imports Tyler Grove and Jonathan Boxill combined on numerous occasions with the former having two terrific scoring chances including a clean breakaway, however he was unable to convert.
 
Control of possession for the Adrenaline was a major theme right throughout the game however it took them until the second period before they made the Bears pay on the score sheet.

The opened the scoring when Tyler Grove busted down the wing, fed Steve Best a one-time cross ice that was tipped in by Greg Oddy. 

Coach Ryan O’Handley praised the chemistry between Grove and Oddy noting its impact on both players.
 
“I think it’s good for Greg to skate with a guy like Tyler because I think the older guy has to work harder to keep up,” O’Handley said.
 
The score could have been a lot worse for the Bears save for some incredible goaltending by Kamil Jarina who turned away chance after chance giving his team the opportunity to get back into the game.

Tyler Grove continued to torment the Bears throughout the third. Whether it be via creating turnovers, after-whistle business or an unbelievable skill move, Grove was a dominant force.

Then, after the Adrenaline killed a key penalty, Oddy and Grove busted out on a two on one. Oddy passed it to Grove, who put the puck in the back of the net to put the Adrenaline up 2-0.
 
The offence in front of Jarina however was unable to convert on their chances and the team will need to come out much stronger tomorrow when the team’s face off again in the second game of this weekend’s double-header in Adelaide.
 
Sunday’s game begins at 3.30PM at the Ice ArenA in Thebarton.