Weekend Preview: Thunder in Sydney

After the final bye of season 2016, the Thunder begin a stretch of 10 games in 29 days this weekend with a trip to Penrith to take on the Sydney Bears, before travelling to Liverpool on Sunday to face the Sydney Ice Dogs.

The Thunder come in to the weekend in 3^rd place in the standings, seven points adrift of the Newcastle North Stars with five games in hand, having lost four of the past seven games, including a split of the weekend series against the CBR Brave prior to the bye.

Michael Dorr has hit the nitrous button on his season, scoring 14 points in six games since the All-Star break, while Thomas Heemskerk has continued his stellar season in net, and the number of byes in the past six weeks should have he and the rest of the squad refreshed for a push at the 2016 AIHL Finals.

Another side looking for a push at the finals are the Sydney Bears, who head in to Saturday’s clash looking for a reversal of recent form, having dropped three of their past four games to now sit nine points adrift of fourth place.

Import forward Tomas Landa, now in his fifth season with the Bears, leads the team in scoring with 26 points, while goaltender Anthony Kimlin, who won gold for Australia at the recent IIHF World Championships, is fourth in the league in goals against average (2.96) and third in save percentage (.914), and leads local goaltenders in both categories.

Saturday will be the first time the Thunder and Bears have met this season, with the last meeting coming more than a year ago, a 4-2 Thunder win in Penrith on June 14, 2015.

The Sydney Ice Dogs have improved on their output from 2015, but are still in the midst of a forgettable season, with just 12 points in 20 games so far seeing them sit at the bottom of the AIHL standings.

The Thunder won the only contest between the two teams this season 3-2 in a tough contest in Liverpool, and Sunday’s game will be the first of three consecutive games between the two teams.

David Dunwoodie has made a successful return to the Ice Dogs squad after a year in Canberra, posting 19 points in 18 games to sit second in team scoring behind Strat Allen, while goaltender Charlie Smart has posted a 4.82 goals against average and a .866 save percentage after his move from the Adelaide Adrenaline.

MATCH INFORMATION

When: 3pm AWST Saturday vs Bears, 3pm AWST Sunday vs Ice Dogs
Where: Penrith Ice Palace (Saturday), Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink (Sunday)
Stream: Saturday http://mixlr.com/sydney-bears (audio only, no stream available Sunday)