Thunder 4 - Bears 5 (SO)

The Sydney Bears have defeated the CD Dodd Perth Thunder 5-4 in a shootout at Perth Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

Photo by Corey Lunt

A spirited Bears fightback saw two late goals which sent the game to a shootout with the Bears clinching a come from behind victory.

A high scoring game saw Thunder goals from Ben Breault, Lynden Lodge, Rob Haselhurst and Jonathan Bremner.

The first period commenced with plenty of physical and fast paced play from both sides.

The Bears had a flurry of early shots on goal but the momentum shifted midway through the period to the Thunder.

The lone goal of the period came from Ben Breault as a drive to the net sent the home side to the locker rooms 1-0 at the end of the first.

The Bears went on the attack early in the second period with a goal off the stick of Jeremy Brucker just sixteen seconds into the period to level the scores at 1 goal apiece.

The momentum swung the way of the Bears as Cameron Todd put another past Peter Di Salvo to put their Bears up 2-1.

The Thunder found themselves on the penalty kill late in the period, however as Thunder young gun Lynden Lodge streaked out of the penalty box, he picked up the puck at the blue line and managed to collect his own rebound after a shot on Anthony Kimlin, slotting a second goal for the Thunder to level the scores at 2-2 at the end of the second. 

Some physical play which saw a roughing call on the Bears put Jackson Brewer and Ben Breault in the box and saw some 4 on 4 action.

A second Bears penalty saw the Thunder capitalise on the power play with a Rob Haselhurst goal putting the Thunder 3-2 up.

With some momentum, the Thunder struck again off Jonathon Bremner to give the home side a 2 goal buffer midway through the third period.

A penalty laden second half of the period saw the Bears pull Kimlin in a last ditch effort to force their way back into the game.

The Bears hit the scoreboard with just over a minute remaining off the stick of Michael Schlamp on a 5 on 3 opportunity to pull the visitors to within one.

The Bears kept coming and a well timed slapshot from Nick Rivait locked the scores up once again at 4-4 with only 30 seconds remaining.

The game moved to the shootout with the Bears taking the win 5-4. The two teams will meet again tomorrow in the second game of the double header. You can buy tickets here