Brisbane Lightning News: August 5-6th, Week 17

The final road weekend of the regular season for the Brisbane Lightning brought out some goals, some gutsy play and the points needed to ensure a top 6 finish in the overall league ladder this AIHL season. 

Game one of the weekend brought a bit of a surprise, as a depleted Central Coast Rhinos faced off against the Lightning at the Erina Arena.  The Lightning were fired up for the Rhinos team that held the Sydney Bears to only a 4-2 win the weekend previous.  However, losing their import goalie and top import defender in the week following that win left the Rhinos exposed at the back against the potent Lighting attack. 

The onslaught began early with Lightning forward Arum Rapchuk potting the first goal of the game less than 2 minutes in, followed shortly thereafter by his line mate Will Clifford.  The Lightning powerplay went to work after a couple of penalties by the Rhinos to put Jordan McTaggart and Julian Fodor also into the goal scorer’s column. Sacha Rapchuk made it a family affair for the Rapchuk brothers by slotting his 7th goal of the season at even strength. 

The Rhinos top forward import, Joakim Erdogan, did get one goal back for the home team as he slid the puck past starting Lightning goalie Steve Harris on the breakaway with approximately 3 minutes left in the period.  Unfortunately, it was a lone bright spot for the Rhinos on Saturday as it proved to be their only goal of the game, and the next time Erdogan was on the scoresheet it was for a 5-minute crosschecking major that also left him out permanently with a game misconduct. 

The second and third periods provided more of the same with a high-paced flowing and attacking style from the Lightning leading to multiple goal opportunities at the Rhino’s end.  Seven goals in the second frame from McTaggart, Will Clifford, Alexis Girard, Julian Fodor, Anthony Santilli, Aaron Wanat and Harley Anderson left the period completed with the Lightning up 12-1. 

Highlights of the period included the goal from AIHL rookie Anthony Santilli with a bar down snipe to score his first ever AIHL goal, some great back and forth play from the import wing pair of Kasey Kulczycki and Jordan McTaggart and the arrival halfway through the game of goalie Nick Novysedlak between the pipes to lock the door on any further chances for the Rhinos. 

The third period saw a further 8 goals against for the Rhinos, with Santilli getting his second of the game and Arum Rapchuk sniping his 11th goal of the season with an impossible short side high goal that left the goalie wondering how it went it.  For the game, the powerplay struck at a rate of 8/9 and the 52 shots on goal were a club record for getting the puck to the opposition net – the attack was unstoppable on the night. 

The play of forward Julian Fodor was also a highlight, as the big Lightning forward continued his resurgence - built mainly on the back of a solid all-around game, high work rate and strong positional play. 

The second game was a much different affair for the Lightning.  The perennial contenders – the Sydney Bears – produced a much stiffer defensive opposition for the Lightning and an attack with a lot more sting than the Rhinos from a number of potent scoring options. 

The first period seemed to have the Lightning suffering a hangover from the night before, as poor defensive coverage and lack of effort in puck battles gave the Bears all the chances they needed to get ahead.  Goals to Bears defenceman Brian Funes and constant threat Tomas Landa gave the home team a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. 

Starting goalie Steve Harris kept the damage to a minimum and his season-long strong play between the pipes continued for the Lightning to keep the Brisbane team within striking distance.  The second frame saw the Bears win the penalty count (giving up 5 powerplays to the Lightning 3) and also the goal count with 2 more tallies to the Lightning 1. 

The powerplay goal from the Lightning’s Harley Anderson with approximately 5 minutes left in the period was a well crafted high tip on the powerplay that seemed to buoy the Lightning spirit, as they finished the period the stronger of the two teams on zonal play. 

The third period didn’t carry this play forward, however, as the Bears notched two goals in the first 5 minutes to seemingly put the game out of reach at 6-1. Persistence and strong play from the four Lightning imports stirred the game to a Brisbane comeback as Jordan McTaggart with his 20th goal of the season and Kasey Kulczycki with his 9th lit a fire under the Lightning attack. 

Pulling the goalie in the third to change a one-man advantage into a two-man advantage allowed Julian Fodor to put away his 22nd goal of the campaign and bring the Lightning within 2 goals of the Bears lead.  Time, however, was the biggest enemy as the Lightning left it too little too late in the game to make the full comeback and the game ended with a two goal 6-4 win for the home team in red. 

From a game in which every player on the game day roster (except the goalies) notched themselves at least one point each on the scoresheet, to a hard-fought game that showed some push back from the Lightning late in the game, this weekend had a little bit of everything. 

An away split for the weekend was an acceptable result for the road trip and left the Brisbane Lightning looking very much forward to the last home game of the season to avenge an early season loss to the Sydney Ice Dogs.  Join us at IceWorld Boondall or on AIHLTv for some great hockey on Saturday August 12th! 

Words by Ivan Rapchuk 
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