Adelaide sweep the weekend as they leave the Central Coast with 6 points.

The Adrenaline teed up for their second game of a double header against the Central Coast Rhinos this Sunday. The Rhinos came in looking to break their 0-5 record on the season, while Adelaide was aiming to return home with six points under the belt.

Adelaide came in with a dominating affair on Saturday, leaving with a final score of 9-2. It was the Adrenaline’s first franchise win since 2018, and an incredibly important mental victory for the team.

An important development prior to the game. Canadian import Darcy Walsh out with a head injury after a high hit in yesterday’s game. With culprit and sole active Rhinos import Joakim Erdugan out too, serving a suspension for the headshot. Both important pieces.

3:00pm Adelaide time and the game got underway with some consistent zone time for the Adrenaline. Notable work in the corners with top dog Noah Maley and young gun Julian Friederich doing the hard yards.

Jeremy Friederich started in net for Adelaide while Jason Polglase completed the double header for the Rhinos

An early power-play for the Adrenaline saw some quality chances but the Rhinos managed to clear the zone well, however, 6 men on the ice drew a call on the Adrenaline, ending the power-play early for some 4 on 4 action. Adelaide controlled the play and then successfully killed off the minute penalty-kill that followed.

With no score either way, it would be 6 minutes into the game when the Rhinos would record their first shot on goal.

The first ten minutes of the period were followed the same script as Saturday, Adelaide would enter the zone, have a few opportunities, the puck would leave the zone, Adelaide would regroup and reenter. Things did not seem to be different today. A few opportunities for the Rhinos to enter the offensive zone, but they struggled to get over the blue line due to some solid defensive work by the away team.

Just after the 10 minute mark, the Rhinos had a great chance in front of the Adrenaline net after Friederich struggled to freeze the puck, they cleared it out to keep the score naught.

As has become a nightly occurrence, Polglase was being peppered. He made a number of good saves, although was not particularly challenged to move side to side by the Adrenaline shooters.

The Adrenaline would go back on the power-play with just over 6 minutes left in the first after an undisciplined play by one of the Wardlaw brothers.

Killing off the penalty, the Rhinos appeared to be upholding their trend of playing better on Sundays than Saturdays, however it didn’t seem sustainable.

It wasn’t, a bad play by the Rhinos would lead to a 3 on 1 back into the zone, with Joey MacDougall sinking a cross crease pass from Daniel Chen. It was his third goal and fifth point of the weekend.

At the beginning of the second, Adelaide would quickly go on the penalty-kill with Ben Handberg going to the box for kneeing. You wouldn’t be ridiculed for not knowing the Rhinos were on the power-play, with Adelaide effectively clearing every zone entry attempt.

However by the middle of the period, the Adrenaline appeared to be overcomplicating the play, a few too many passes in the offensive zone was hemming the scoring potential they were commanding. They would have to bring back some of the killer instinct that got them so far on Saturday. 

Over halfway through the period, Adelaide appeared to be getting frustrated as Polglase stepped up. With the Rhinos holding Adelaide’s lead to 1, it would only take a lucky break for the game to be tied up. They needed a second goal soon.

On cue, Nathaniel Benson would take the puck from the face-off, skate up the ice and rip it high blocker for his third goal of the weekend in a fantastic solo effort, score 2-0, the Adrenaline had secured some insurance.

In the trend of pairs that was seen yesterday, Julian Friederich would take the puck around the Rhinos net and feed it to Tyler Leeming who ripped it past the pad for his second of the season, the floodgates were open again. 3-0 Adrenaline.

Indeed they were open, within a few minutes, Foll fed it to Hamilton at the side of the net who banked it off the pad for a Handberg tap in, his second of the weekend. 4-0 Adrenaline, 3:30 left to play in the second.

In a lopsided affair it can be difficult for the successful teams goalie to keep their focus, however Jeremy Friederich showed he was still in the game with a huge pad save on a developing breakaway. The second period came to an end, 4-0.

As the third period got underway, the Rhinos would finally get their break. A shot near the blue line got stuck in the traffic blocking Friederich’s view, and it was Jayden Ryan who tapped it into the back of the net to make it 4-1.

It was the trend of pairs that would go the Rhinos way for once, Callum Wardlaw ripping it past Friederich barely two minutes after the last goal. A reasonably slow game up to this point was suddenly 4-2. The Rhinos had made it a hockey game and stunned the Adrenaline who had totally been in the drivers seat up to that point.

Not to be deflated, the Adrenaline came off the face-off firing, desperate to not let the game get away from them. Andrew Hamilton cut across the royal road in front of the net and flung a wrist-shot past Polglase, his fifth goal of the season, and a continuation of his 4 game scoring streak. 5-2 Adrenaline.

The entire game had seemingly experienced a shot of life with three goals across the board in 4 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, Freeman would head to the box after an overly aggressive play to the glove of Polglase, putting the Rhinos on their fourth and final power-play of the game.

The Adrenaline continued their perfect penalty-kill record, barely allowing the Rhinos to enter the zone.

After the shock of the two quick goals, a fire had been lit within the Adrenaline squad, gone were the risky passes, everything was going on net. Polglase stood tall, denying the attempts to extend the lead.

A strong push by the Rhinos saw some good opportunities broken up in the Adrenaline zone, but it was Andrew Chen who finally extended the Adrenaline’s hold with a shot through traffic. 6-2 Adrenaline.

A remarkable lack of pushing and shoving compared to the Saturday game, possibly due to the lack of instigator Joakim Erdugan after his headshot suspension.

Some more pucks on net, and Julian Friederich would tap in a loose puck next to the net for his first career AIHL goal.

In the space of 20 minutes, the floodgates had opened and closed for both teams, however the Adrenaline had managed to break them back down.

A nifty move through the legs and a cut across the net almost got Daniel Chen on the board, but he couldn’t bank it home.

An amusing quirk that could only happen in Australian ice hockey, the commentator for the game was in fact that Rhinos import goalie, who is currently awaiting paperwork to get on the ice.  He mentioned a friend of his played in Australia, it is a name Adrenaline fans may know, former import Kyle Neuber!

A late power-play for the Adrenaline would put a cap on the night, heading home with 6 points on the ladder. Solidifying their third place in the Rurak conference as the AIHL round comes to an end.
 

Final score: 7-2 for the Adrenaline
 

Adelaide Adrenaline shots on goal: 54 (16-14-24)

Central Coast Rhinos shots on goal: 14 (4-4-6)

Adrenaline 0 for 3 on the power-play. 16 penalty minutes

Rhinos 0 for 4 on the power-play. 6 penalty minutes


The nightmare for the Adrenaline franchise has come to an end, with a clean sweep of the Rhinos, they return home with a long-awaited 6 points. Regardless of Adelaide's successes last year, the mental weight of the 2018-19 record was real. This is a big deal for the Adrenaline's momentum, and they'll have to ride it into next weekend against newcomers Brisbane Lightning and their captain Harley Anderson, long-time Adrenaline player.

For the Adrenaline, persistence in the offensive zone was key to victory this weekend, some frustration with slow scoring at the start of the game paid off with the final score today. Strangely, the scoring for and against appears to come in bunches, this is something the Adrenaline coaching staff may have to look at going forward. As a sign of depth, 11 players recorded a point tonight, with standout performances from Joey MacDougall and Nathaniel Benson, Ryan Foll also had 3 assists. Jeremy Friederich recorded his first AIHL win.

With far less penalties today, neither team had quite as many chances for special teams action. However, the Adrenaline penalty kill was exemplary, allowing no goals and sometimes looking like there was no man advantage at all. While the power-play did not score, it still looked good, the lack of Darcy Walsh was clearly evident as his movement and possession is instrumental to the Adrenaline's power-play system.

Catch the Adrenaline at home in two weeks time as they return to the Adelaide IceArena to take on the Sydney Ice Dogs.

Tickets available here: https://bit.ly/427NDWb