That was something special.
The Dunedin Thunder returned with a vengeance to beat their rivals the Southern Stampede 7-5 at the Dunedin Ice Stadium on Saturday.
It was the Thunder’s first victory against the defending champions since 2018, and cemented their spot at second on the men’s national ice hockey league table.
The Thunder have four wins and two losses for 12 points from their six games, while the Stampede are top with five wins and three losses for 15 points from their eight games.
Saturday’s clash was a fast-paced, high-scoring affair, and the floodgates opened with a flurry of goals in the first period.
Nolan Ross opened proceedings for the Stampede in the first two minutes before Cole Beckstead and Chris Eaden guided two into the net for the Thunder.
That was all in the initial 10 minutes — but things were not done yet.
Colin McIntosh fired home for the Stampede and Luke Stegmann responded for the hosts before McIntosh made sure of another.
Joe Orr banged in one more to give the Thunder a 4-3 lead at the end of the first period.
Eaden added another to his growing tally early in the second, before Ross and Cam Trew levelled the game 5-5 at the end of the second.
But the Thunder stood tall and came out strong.
Stegmann scored again and Tristan Darling made sure of the 7-5 victory.
Earlier, the Stampede had a 5-2 win against the Thunder on Friday.
Former Thunder player Dylan Devlin opened things for the Queenstown side with the only points of the first period.
Ross and Devlin extended the lead to 3-0 in the second.
Ian Audas and Eaden got on the board for the Thunder, but Max Macharg added another and Ross a second for the Stampede to win.
The Stampede are home to the Mako this weekend, while the Thunder are on the road to Auckland to face the Admirals.
