A furious comeback was not quite enough to get the Dunedin Thunder over the line.
It faced a 5-0 deficit midway through the second period against the Botany Swarm on Saturday night.
However, a goal to Dylan Devlin, followed by two to Noah Gregory and another to Jacob Hurring — in his 100th match for the Thunder — reduced the margin to one.
But the Swarm held on to claim a 5-4 win at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
It was a 10 minute blitz that condemned the Thunder.
Josh Whitson-Lee gave the Swarm a 1-0 lead in the first period, but it piled on four goals in the second to give itself a comfortable buffer.
Stephen Mawson and Kyle Jonsson scored within a minute of each other and
Robin Vortanov and Richie Hopkinson added two more, before the Thunder fightback began.
However, that fightback came up just short.
That match followed a 6-3 win to the Swarm on the first night of the double-header on Friday.
As on Saturday, the Swarm led 1-0 at the end of the first break, after a goal to Ondrej Kozak.
Paris Heyd equalised early in the second period, before Hopkinson and Reid Cole gave the Swarm a two-goal buffer.
Ian Audas pulled one back for the Thunder early in the third quarter, the youngster’s first goal for the side.
Oliver Hay and Vortanov kept the Swarm ahead, while Ben Harford managed another for the Thunder.
