Anderson Shuts Out The Ice Dogs

Game 2 of the double header games between the Gold Coast Blue Tongues and the Sydney Ice Dogs was played at Bundall Iceland today.

The intensity between these two teams had skyrocketed since the Blue Tongues win last night and the Ice Dogs were clearly determined to come out firing. The battles for the puck were furious, checks were hard and sending players flying onto the ice - on both teams! The Blue Tongues had strong scoring chances on Sydney's goaltender Jim Herbert but were denied early in the game.

The first infringement for the game sent Ice Dogs' Adam Culligan to the box for slashing. Dallas Costanzo capitalised on the man advantage, assisted by Dave Upton, sending the puck into the net. Nearly 3 minutes later, import defenseman Voldy Dashko sent the puck over Herbert's right shoulder to give the Blue Tongues a 2-0 lead going into the second period.

Unlike Saturday night's game where the Blue Tongues seemed flat at the beginning of the second period, the boys were completely focused as they came out onto the ice after the first intermission.

A minute and a half into the second period, Dave Upton gave the Blue Tongues a 3 goal lead, assisted by Adam Gebara and veteran defenseman Don Burke.

The Ice Dogs failed to capitalise on the cross-checking penalty called on Dan Pedersen causing tempers to flare. Sydney's Andrew Dechristforo was penalised 2 minutes for roughing, giving the Blue Tongues their second powerplay of the game. It only lasted for 5 seconds though before Gold Coast's Brad Young was sent to the box for hooking, making it an even 4-on-4 for 1 minute and 55 seconds. That was until a slashing penalty was called on Blue Tongue Veteran Don Burke 1 minute and 8 seconds later, giving the Ice Dogs 4-on-3 powerplay. Dechristoforo's penalty ended, but their player advantage didn't help as yet again the Blue Tongues killed off both the 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 man advantages the Ice Dogs had.

Frustration grew for the Ice Dogs and it spilled over in a scuffle on the ice between Sydney import Derek Campbell and Gold Coast's stalwart defenseman, Ben Spillane. While Spillane was given a 10 minute misconduct, Campbell was penalised 4 minutes for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct, giving the Blue Tongues their 3rd powerplay of the night. With 11 seconds left on their powerplay, the Blue Tongues went to the locker room at the end of the second with a 3-0 lead.

The third period was wrought with roughing and misconduct penalties on both sides. Each team completed their checks mid-ice to send the opposition flying, thrilling the crowd as they watched. No goals were scored by either team in the third period, however and the game ended with the Blue Tongues having defeated the Sydney Ice Dogs 3-0.

This was the Blue Tongues goaltender CJ Anderson's first AIHL career shutout. The crowd acknowledged the feat by giving the team a standing ovation at the end of the game.

Coach Sands advised that the third star of the weekend was Voldy Dashko. Second star of the weekend was Dave Upton. First star went to goaltender CJ Anderson, a deserved accolade considering the two wins including the shutout tonight.

The Blue Tongues have a bye next weekend and will then head out onto the road to face the Adelaide Adrenaline in Adelaide the following weekend. The next home game weekend will be July 3 2010 at Bundall Iceland and July 4 2010 at Acacia Ridge Iceworld where the Blue Tongues face off against the Melbourne Ice. Puck drop is at 4pm and tickets will be available at the door.