But the home side ran into discipline issues during a 5-3 loss at the Dunedin Ice Stadium last night.
Thunder defender Carl Bombardier was ejected from the game for charging into Swarm goalie Michael Hopkinson as his side pressed for an equaliser midway through the third period.
Mat Enright, who was playing his 86th game for the Thunder but first as a New Zealander after becoming a citizen earlier in the week, appeared to have levelled the score 4-4 but it was disallowed.
Bombardier had crashed into the goalie and incurred the wrath of the officials.
Hopkinson was injured during the play and had to be assisted from the ice. It is understood he is not seriously injured.
The Swarm wrapped up the win when Lucas Bombardier (no relation) slotted a long-range goal into an empty net after the Thunder had pulled its goalie late in the game to find an equaliser.
Both sides struggled with their discipline early. A trio of players were sent to the penalty box.
The Thunder was not able to convert, despite having an extra player for the best part of two minutes.
The opening goal came midway through the first period, when Canadian import Brandon Egli slapped in a shot to convert some pressure the Thunder had been able to assert on the visitors.
The Swarm was back on an equal footing following a goal mouth scramble not a minute later.
The Thunder re-established its earlier buffer through fellow Canadian Charles Plaisir and kept it thanks to a reflex save by goalie Kane Easterbrook in the final seconds of the opening period.
He was called on again to repel several salvos as the Thunder tried desperately to hold on through back-to-back power plays early in the second period.
The home side lost that battle when Maxim Kaluzhny cracked the puck in the back of the net, and two late goals saw the visitor take a 4-3 lead into the final period.
The loss means the Thunder has slumped to a record of one win and four losses, while the Swarm is undefeated with three consecutive wins.
The Washington Capitals won the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the first time in its 44-year history with a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights yesterday, Reuters reported.
The victory saw the Capitals clinch the best-of-seven championship series 4-1 in Las Vegas and brought an end to what had been a magical inaugural season for the Golden Knights.
Alex Ovechkin, the face of the Capitals franchise who for years bore the brunt of the blame for his team's shortcomings, became the first Russian-born captain to hoist the Stanley Cup and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the play-offs.
