The Dunedin Thunder continued its fine season with two wins over the West Auckland Admirals at the Dunedin Ice Stadium at the weekend.
But the two games were in stark contrast - the Thunder's 7-0 win on Saturday was followed by a come-from-behind 3-2 victory yesterday.
Martin Pokorny led the way with two goals on Saturday, and Mitchell Frear, Gareth Lloyd, Joe Orr, Ben Gavoille and Jesse Kantanen joined in on the act.
Thunder coach Janos Kaszala did fear a slow start on Sunday, and he was proved correct as two turnovers led to first-period goals for the Admirals' Frazer Ellis and Glen Patterson.
''When you play those back-to-back games and have a big win the first night, it's really hard to come back hard on the second night,'' Kaszala said.
''The guys were a bit too comfortable and thought it was going to be an easy walkover but, as we saw, it wasn't easy.''
It took one period and another 11 minutes of hockey before the Thunder struck, when Luke Pickering collected the puck and slotted it home past Admirals goaltender Rick Parry from 5m.
Kaszala's team talk after the second period clearly worked, as Pokorny struck from close range after 25 seconds in the third period to tie the score at 2-2.
The Thunder then had to withstand a tight 30 seconds when they were down two players with Pickering and Connor Harrison both in the penalty box, but came through with no damage.
Harrison more than redeemed himself with three and a-half minutes to go, breaking away from the neutral zone on a turnover and scoring the match-winner from mid-range.
''Connor found his scoring stick again because he had many opportunities in that game, but he scored at the best time,'' Kaszala said.
The early mistakes put Thunder goalie Matt Canaday under pressure, but he responded in style on most occasions.
''Matt made some crucial saves but I have to highlight my other goalie Kane [Easterbook]. He had a shut-out yesterday so we had stunning performances from both our goalies.''
The Thunder is now top of the table with the Canterbury Red Devils, who beat the Botany Swarm 5-1 yesterday to draw level with the Thunder again.
''I'm very happy with the team. The boys are really focused and following through the game plan and are getting better and better every game.''
