Adrenaline fall in season opener

From hope and optimism to complete despair. The Adelaide Adrenaline played with passion, guts and determination in their first on-ice action in three months but ultimately fell 5-4 in a shoot out to the Melbourne Ice. 

Peter King steered aside 44 pucks to keep the Adrenaline in it throughout the game. 
 

It was a see-saw affair with the Adrenaline scoring first and the Ice answering every step of the way. 

It was 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3....well you get the idea.

The Adrenaline held the lead until there was 1:04 left on the clock in the third period when a point shot deflected of Gabe O'Connor's face and into the back of the Adrenaline net. 

"One of the most unlucky goals I've ever seen," said head coach Trevor Walsh. 

 

The goal was enough to tie the game at four and force a shootout. 

The Ice converted on two of their chances while the Adrenaline failed to score in the tie breaker.

"Really tough way to lose," said a speechless Trevor Walsh. "They fought hard considering what we've been through. But we have to move on and play hard tomorrow." 

It was a promising start for the Adrenaline. Largely considered "heavy" underdogs because of no on-ice practices, the Adrenaline took it to the Ice.

 

But the Ice responded within minutes. Import Chris Yule tapped home a bizarre rebound that saw the puck take a bounce off Pete King's pad, go flying up in the air and land on the goal line.

The Adrenaline's play picked up as the period progressed. 

"We became a lot more comfortable with our spacing," says Walsh. "It's tough to get that feel back but we settled in nicely." 

 

As the second period came around, the Melbourne Ice found a way to control the pace. Despite this, the Adrenaline did a great job of keeping active sticks, getting in front of shots and not allowing any real opportunity.

 

The Ice would eventually equalise, however. Captain Liam Webster busted in off the left wing and fired a shot right at King. Lasse Lassen picked up the lose rebound in the slot and buried it to make it 2-2.

It didn't take long for the Adrenaline to respond.

 

The Darge - Rezek - Battani line went back to work with another pretty goal, this time off a Greer point shot where the rebound tipped to the stick of Joey Rezek, who dished it to Battani who found the net for the second goal of the game. 

The third period was always going to be a struggle. The Adrenaline, who have had limited time skating, ran out of gas and were pushed against the wall.

Pete King made save after save after save. The veteran saved 20 of 22 shots he faced in the final frame.

After the Ice tied the game 3-3 early in the third, the "MOB" line of Cole MacMillan, Greg Oddy and Steve Best gutted out a go-ahead goal with about six minutes to play. 

 

Oddy sent a beautiful backhanded pass to the slot where Cole MacMillan rifled it home.

Despite frantic defending and a great performance from Peter King, it just wasn't enough.

In the end, the Adrenaline had key performances from many of their key players. Imports Cole MacMillan and TJ Battani each scored (Battani twice), Wehebe Darge showed his speed and relentless back-checking, the defense kept shots to the outside for the most part and the Adrenaline played with a strong sense of identity.

The Adrenaline will take to the rink Sunday at 4PM local time to try to earn their first win of the year.