Adrenaline Fail to Solve the Curse of the North Stars

---

The curse of the North Stars continued for the Adelaide Adrenaline as the home side were defeated by the league leaders for the second time in as many days.
 
Despite leading the game for all but the last four minutes, the Adrenaline could not bury the North Stars, eventual succumbing to the visitors in a shootout.
 
Unfortunately for the Adrenaline despite once again putting together an outstanding three periods of hockey, the team shot themselves in the foot with a poorly timed bench minor late in the third period.
 
The North Stars made no mistake with the extra man with their talisman Geordie Wudrick burying his fourth goal of the weekend with the extra man to level the scores at 2-2.
 
Adrenaline Coach Ryan O’Handley said there was not much else his side could have done but lamented the impact the late penalty had on the result.
 
“We were doing really well, we were holding the lead pretty well so obviously taking a penalty at that stage of the game, they’ve got a good powerplay, that’s a real tough one,” O’Handley said.
 
Adrenaline Captain Greg Oddy echoed his coach’s thoughts but said the team could take great pride in their performance over the weekend.
 
“We were playing finals hockey the entire weekend and I think the good thing is we left everything out there, we got that late penalty for too many men, which was really the difference in the end but really proud of the boys, we came to play this weekend,” Oddy said.
 
The result means the Adrenaline only take a single point from the weekend and now sit seven points adrift of the CBR Brave with two games in hand and four games remaining on the schedule.
 
The equation is tough but Oddy said he believes his side has the capability to still play finals hockey this season.
 
“We control our own destiny still and we’ve got four games left, we’re chasing Canberra, we got two games in hand, we’ve just got to keep winning,” Oddy said.
 
The remaining four games on the schedule presents a real challenge to the Adrenaline, with two tough rod games next weekend in Melbourne.
 
The Adrenaline face-off against the reigning Australian Ice Hockey League champions, the Melbourne Mustangs followed by a home double-header in two weeks against the Perth Thunder.
 
Coach Ryan O’Handley said the team must reset and not look at the standings, simplify things and just focus on the next game.
 
“We can’t look at the standings, we just have to win our next hockey game, if we play like this, if we can carry this effort over to the Melbourne weekend I am confident we can have some success there and then we just bring it home against Perth,” O’Handley said.