Regan Wilson in action for the Dunedin Thunder. Photo: Keaphotos The Dunedin Thunder had everything riding on the weekend. Boy, did they deliver. The Thunder wrapped up their New Zealand Ice Hockey League regular season with two strong wins over the Botany Swarm in Dunedin. They snatched six points to lock in a playoff spot. They moved to the top of the table on 27 points, the same points as the Southern Stampede, though the Stampede had a game to play last night and two more in hand. The Thunder’s qualifying place will be determined by the final rounds next week, when they have the bye but can slip no lower than third. They started with a 7-5 victory on Friday night. The Swarm went up 2-0 before veteran Chris Eaden pulled one back. Luke Stegmann, Morgan Blair and Samuel Loiselle each added another for the Thunder to lead 4-2. The Swarm struck first again through Josh Steen before Cole Beckstead put Ian Audas in space to give the Thunder another. Rudolfs Lapsa added another for the Swarm to trail 5-4 at the break. Rayne Walsh extended for the Thunder, Markus MacDonald scored another for the Swarm, before Blair added another to his tally to secure the Thunder win. On Saturday, the Thunder came out firing, pouring in five goals in the opening period. Beckstead banked the first before stalwarts Tristan Darling and Joe Orr added their own, Loiselle scored the first of his hat-trick, and Audas gave the home side a 5-1 lead at the break. Stegmann linked up with Audas for him to make it six, Loiselle added another, and Jack Lewis scored in the power play for the Thunder to confidently lead 8-1. Steen and McDonald added some consolation goals for the Swarm, but Loiselle banked another to secure the win. In the national women’s league, the Auckland Steel maintained their perfect record with a 6-3 win over the Canterbury Inferno.
