Blue Tongues Win Double Header Against Bears

The Blue Tongues once again faced the Penrith Bears at Bundall Iceland last night for the second of the home game double header. The ever-present fog was absent during the entire game, giving both teams and all referees full visibility.

After the Gold Coast had beaten the Bears 8-4 in Saturday's game, Bears management changed goaltenders and gave Gabriel Robledo the start. This may have given the Bears more confidence after the previous night as they opened the scoring just under seven minutes left in the first, with Vladan Stransky finding the net and sending Blue Tongue Luke Fiveash to the ice. A minute and twenty seconds later, Trevor Walsh evened the score, assisted by imports Tino Sandhu and Chris Martin. Nearly two minutes later, Brad Smulders gave the Blue Tongues a one goal lead, taking the score to 2-1 at the end of the first period.

In the second, the Blue Tongues found their stride, with both Trevor Walsh and Brad Smulders adding another goal each within the first 4 minutes of the period. The Bears' Vladan Stransky scored his second and third goals of the game, scoring the first hatrick of the night to take the Bears within 1 goal of the home side, but then Brad Smulders scored his third goal (the second hatrick of the game) and the Bears decided that it was time to change goaltenders. Robledo was send back to the team bench, and Brent Burgoyney made his way out to the crease. It didn't seem to make much of a difference, as Brad Smulders scored his fourth goal of the night on the first shot Burgoyney faced, and the teams headed back to the locker room with the scoreboard declaring 6-3 in favour of the Blue Tongues.

The third period was the most intense of the game, with Chris Martin and Dave Upton checking the Bears out of the game. The physicality seemed to lift the Blue Tongues, and three and a half minutes into the third period, Chris Martin addded to the Blue Tongues' tally with a top shelf wrister sailing over the shoulder of Burgoyney, assisted by Smulders and Sandhu. The Bears' Vlad Rubes added to their own score, getting past Luke Fiveash, but twenty-seven seconds later Tino Sandhu gave the Blue Tongues a four goal lead at 8-4.

With just over five minutes left in the third period, Rubes scored again. The Bears were unable to prevent Marco Bertossa giving the Blue Tongues their final goal though, and the game ended 9-5, giving the Blue Tongues a full 6 points from this weekend. While the score was high, the end-to-end play was due to many turnovers. The defense, however, was tighter than on Saturday night and the Blue Tongues seemed to have regrouped from the previous game and were determined to play a game that was tougher, tighter and stronger than the previous night.

Next weekend, the Blue Tongues have a bye, and will return to the ice on June 6 & 7 at Bundall Iceland where they take on the Adelaide Adrenaline. This promises to be a big showdown with Trevor Walsh facing his old teammates!