Game Recaps
Game Recap: Conner scores game winner for Rampage
Jack Connor scored a dramatic game winning goal with just 100 seconds left to lift Brisbane to a 5-3 victory over the Avalanche and a full six points on the weekend.
Adelaide were looking poised to take the game when they had a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes with 10 minutes left. But tough Brisbane penalty killing and some nice saves from goalie Nick Novysedlak turned the momentum.
It allowed Jordan McTaggart to score one of his two goals with 5:17 to play to tie it before Connor had the winner late. Harley Anderson added an empty net goal for good measure.
Star import Owen Sobchak had his second consecutive 4-point night for the Rampage and Nick Novysedlak made 29 saves in the win.
It was heart-break for Adelaide, who lost their third game of the season when conceding a goal within the last two minutes. The visitors had three second period goals from Nathaniel Benson, Darren Corstens and Tomek Sak. They even led the game 3-1 at some stage. They’ll walk away with a donut in the points columns after this weekend.
It was a wildly entertaining game from start to finish.
Brisbane rampaged out of the gate, generating a few early chances in the opening minutes of the game. Adelaide goalie Jeremy Friederich had to make a couple key saves early to avoid his team going in the hole.
Brisbane goalie Nick Novysedlak, who made 33 saves in Brisbane’s 4-3 win the night prior, looked in fine form early too. Adelaide’s best chances came while shorthanded but the Rampage tender was up to the task on each occasion.
The defining moment of the opening frame was a brilliant individual effort from Sobchak. The shifty Canadian import created a turnover in the neutral zone, burned around the Adelaide defense, wrapped around the back of the goal and tucked in the lone score of the first period.
The game certainly had a more physical tone than Friday’s affair. Both teams laid huge hits. Daryl Dunsford was the catalyst of Brisbane’s physicality and Zach Steele the aggressor for Adelaide. Teams traded words, hits, shots and chances in an entertaining opening 20.
Adelaide levelled early in the second period when Brisbane defenseman Marco Bertossa coughed up the puck in front of his own goal to the stick of Tom Sak. The Adelaide defender rifled home his second goal of the season.
Then the penalty parade for both teams began. It started with Brisbane and ended with Adelaide.
Then Brisbane took two quick penalties to give Adelaide a 5-on-3 power play for 1:35. Nathaniel Benson one-timed a goal past Novysedlak off the heels of a nice passing sequence between Jared Siemens and Steve Best.
The Avalanche added another goal two minutes later when Darren Corstens finished off a Benson pass, using Yoann Levesque as a screen in front of the net. Three goals on three shots in four minutes gave Adelaide a 3-1 lead.
They were looking poised for more when they got another powerplay opportunity midway through the second. But it was Jordan McTaggart who was given a breakaway pass from Sobchak and he made no mistake, going bardown to get the home side back within one.
Brisbane got three straight power play opportunities late in the second, including a 5-on-3 later but Jeremy Friederich shut the door to keep it a 3-2 Adelaide lead.
Friederich made a series of tough saves to start the third, helping Adelaide kill a 5-on-3 advantage that Brisbane had for 1:35.
Then, Adelaide got their infamous full two minutes of 5-on-3 hockey at the 10 minute mark of the period. The Brisbane goalie was excellent and Adelaide couldn’t capitalise off a gifted opportunity.
And that set the stage for the thrilling finish.
Heartbreak for Adelaide. Jubiliation for Brisbane.
The Rampage improve to 4-2 while Adelaide drop to 2-4.