Post-game Recap: Adrenaline fall in tough opening night in Perth.

15th of April 2023 @ Perth Thunder

During a road trip for a one-game weekend against the Perth Thunder, the Adrenaline unfortunately suffered a tough loss on their opening night, which saw high scores and shutouts across the league. 

However, Adrenaline import Andrew Hamilton stepped up and made his presence known, scoring both of the team's goals with an impressive performance, leaving his introductory essay at the door.

Adrenaline's starting goalie Matus Trnka manned the net, while newly signed Perth Thunder import goalie Tristan Côté-Cazenave guarded the other end of the ice, in what would be a high workload night for each of them.

Opening day nerves running high, the game kicked off with an exciting back-and-forth. However, it was the Thunder's Jordan Kyros who scored the first goal, finding the back of the net 13:25 into the first period. Adelaide had a quick opportunity to respond with a power play as Perth's Nathan Lacasse went to the penalty box. 

Adelaide's power play came to a disappointing end as Lacasse returned from the box and managed to beat Trnka for a goal.

The last 10 minutes of the first saw some fight back from the Adrenaline. Going into the first period break, 16 shots Adelaide, 11 shots Perth.

The second period got underway, and Lacasse wasted no time in taking advantage of some quick penalties by Adelaide. He scored two goals on two power plays within a span of four minutes, completing his hat trick before the 30-minute mark of the game. 

Adelaide's timely lack of discipline put Perth in a commanding position on the scoreboard. 0-4 in Perth’s hand.

Despite the challenging start, it was not the time to count the Adrenaline out. Showing resilience, they fought hard in the last 10 minutes of the period. 

Finally, they managed to put one past Côté-Cazenave, who had stone-walled Adelaide up to that point. Andrew Hamilton, the 6'4" Canadian import, ripped a shot five-hole, beating the Thunder goaltender to the ice, assisted by Kevin Yu and Andrew Chen.

Hamilton's geno marked the first goal for the Adelaide Adrenaline since the pandemic began, but that wasn’t the last he had to say.

Despite a shot of life, the Adrenaline were unable to further capitalise on their momentum in the second period.

They had several scoring opportunities, hitting the crossbar and scraping Côté-Cazenave’s mask, but he continued to stand tall in the net, denying their attempts to close the gap.

As the second period came to an end, Adelaide was trailing 1-4, despite outshooting Perth 30-23. It was clear that they would need a strong push in the third period to mount a comeback and salvage a win.

The Adrenaline met the third period with a renewed energy, determined to even the score.

Côté-Cazenave had other ideas. Save after save kept Adelaide hopes down.

A scuffle of penalties at 12:23 in the third saw Thunder’s Alistair Punler ejected from the game.

A few defensive lapses got the Thunder’s Anthony Gagnon on the board with a short-handed goal just before the 10 minute mark. 1-5 Perth.

Trnka made some eye-popping saves, cool as a cucumber, much to the dismay and heckling of the Perth crowd behind the net.

A few more penalties and Perth’s Ville Tenosalmi put a short-handed dagger in the hearts of the Adrenaline, 1-6 Perth.

But the Adrenaline decided they weren’t going to lie down and take it. A fire under the skates of the Adelaide squad led to a dominating last few minutes of the game, and it was Andrew Hamilton that solved the Thunder goaltender once again, second goal of the night, assisted by Nathaniel Benson and Daniel Chen.

With that, the opening night for the Adelaide Adrenaline came to a close. 

Final score, 2-6 in Perth’s favour.

Some promising signs from the Adelaide squad, but much to be ironed out. The special teams play needs to improve if the Adrenaline want to be competitive. Stay tuned to hear what the coaching staff’s key takeaways were from this first look.

Adelaide Adrenaline shots on goal: 51 (16-14-21)

Perth Thunder shots on goal: 34 (11-12-11)

Adrenaline 0 for 6 on the power play. 8 penalty minutes

Thunder 2 for 3 on the power play. 33 penalty minutes.

Adelaide returns home next week for their home opener against the Sydney Bears on the 22nd of April @ IceArena Adelaide.

Tickets available on the Adelaide Adrenaline website, over 50% sold, don’t miss out!