Brisbane Lightning News: July 01-02, Week 12

The first weekend in July saw the Canberra Brave make the trek from our nation’s capital to sunny Brisbane for a two-game set against the Brisbane Lightning. This follows on from the away series for the Lighting at the beginning of the season in which the hometown Brave came away with a win in both games in the Brave Cave. The experienced Canberra team currently lead the AIHL in both the Rurak Division and the overall standings while the Lightning are 3rd in the Division and 6th overall.

Saturday was a beautiful day in Queensland (what a surprise!) and with some fans and players on both teams celebrating Canada Day there was a great atmosphere in the sold out Iceworld Boondall Ice Arena. The game did not disappoint – except of course for the final score of 7-3 in favour of the Brave! The first and second periods were very closely played affairs with chances at both ends of the ice.

The Lightning opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from defender Max Roth – his 6th goal of the season – assisted by Kasey Kulczycki on a nicely developed play to escape the glove of Alex Tetreault. However, the Brave answered back with a goal in reply less than one minute later by Casey Kubara to tie things up. Though the Brave held an edge in shots in the first period, the play was relatively equal in terms of zone time and possession.

The Lightning used an effective counterattack to score their second goal and take the lead again – Patrick Popovics and Harley Anderson breaking free of the D-zone to speed up ice on 2-on-1, and a diversionary net drive from Anderson allowing Popovics to slot home his 7th of the season. Canberra answered back with Harvey and Vance soring before the end of the 1st to take a 3-2 lead into the locker room.

The 2nd was another even affair – with one goal from each team. The Brisbane goal was an exceptional individual effort from D-man Alexis Girard as he stole the puck from the Brave as they were exiting the zone and deked out the goalie to slot his 6th tally of the season, this one unassisted. The 3rd period, however, the Brave showed their experience by taking control of the game. An early goal put them up by 2 in the third, however it was a one-minute span with 5 minutes on the clock that allowed the game to be put out of reach with two quick goals to seal the game.

There was some solid play from the Lightning forward line of Sacha Rapchuk centring Aaron Wanat and Lachlan Clifford, and the import defenders Max Roth and Alexis Girard had strong outings. However, a few moments where Lightning concentration lapsed were pounced on by the strong CBR Brave team to ensure the game leaned in their direction.

Sunday the weather became a bit overcast as puck drop approached, and Lightning game play was also not as crisp as the previous day. The Brave came out with speed and effort that was not matched by the Lightning, and three goals spaced over the first period had the Brave heading to the sheds at the end of the period with a 3-0 lead. The second was more of the same, unfortunately.

With a bit more vigour on the forecheck and a greater desire to get to the front of the net the Lightning were able to pot one goal in the middle of the second period – Will Clifford scoring his 5th of the season with a helper from Brisbane Lightning leading scorer Harley Anderson. Unfortunately, that was the lone bright spot of the period for the Lightning as two more goals from the league-leading Brave had them up 6-1 at the end of two frames.

The third was another strong period from the Brave. The ice was tilted in one direction for the final frame. A lone tally in the period from birthday boy Arum Rapchuk – assisted by the import defensive combo of Max Roth and Alexis Girard – was all the Lightning were able to muster past the solid goaltending of Aleksi Toivonen.

“I was happy to get one past Toivonen on my birthday, but I’d much rather had a stronger and more solid all-round game from the myself and the team,” said forward Arum Rapchuk. “They’re a solid team – nothing really flashy, but strong goaltending, defenders and forwards with some key imports. There’s no doubt why they are top of the table!”.

Some highlights from the weekend for the Lightning included a solid return from injured forward Lachlan Clifford to the forward lines, strong play from the import defence combo Max Roth and Alexis Girard and young defender Neil Pretorius logging big minutes and showing strength against the skilled Brave forwards.

Join us for the upcoming weekend of action where the Melbourne Mustangs travel from chilly Melbourne up to Queensland on Saturday July 8th!

Words by Ivan Rapchuk
Image by Slippery Pixel Photography