Thunder 5 - Bears 1

The CD Dodd Perth Thunder have capped off their home season with a stunning performance against the Sydney Bears, being last year’s runners-up 5-1 to move five points clear in third place.

Louick Marcotte’s hot form continued with a pair of goals, while Nico Viksten was almost flawless in the Thunder’s most complete team performance of the season.

Andrew Cox, Lynden Lodge and Shaun Tobin each found their way on to the scoresheet as well as the Thunder line-up found both their offensive and defensive game all night, restricting the Bears to very few legitimate scoring chances.

Marcotte got the game going late in the first period as he found his way in deep before putting the puck through Anthony Kimlin’s five-hole for a power play goal to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead after one period.

After a bit of an arm wrestle to start the second period, Lynden Lodge broke through for his first goal of the season as he broke in to the offensive zone and sniped a rocket shot over Kimlin’s left shoulder to double the Thunder advantage.

The Thunder were unlucky not to have a greater than 2-0 advantage after two periods, having dominated long stretches of play, but their dominance began to pay off in the third period as Jamie Woodman’s power move to the net resulted in a rebound goal for Shaun Tobin, stretching the lead to 3-0.

Andrew Cox buried a long-range slap shot to give the Thunder a 4-0 lead and put the game beyond any reasonable doubt, before Jake Ratcliffe broke Nico Viksten’s shutout bid with a great one-timer in the final seven minutes.

Marcotte put the icing on a sweet Thunder cake with his second goal of the game in to the empty net, as the Thunder moved to within one point of clinching finals with a 5-1 victory.

The Thunder’s regular season concludes next weekend with a pair of games at O’Brien Icehouse against Thunder alumni Jonathon Bremner and the Melbourne Ice. Check AIHL.tv for broadcast details.