Ian Audas’s goal will go down in Dunedin Thunder history. It was the cherry on top to the Thunder’s 6-4 victory against the Southern Stampede to grab the upper hand in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League finals in Queenstown on Friday. The opening game of the finals was locked 4-4 when Thunder veteran Chris Eaden gave the Thunder a 5-4 lead. With the clock winding down — and the Stampede having been in penalty trouble with only three players on the ice — the home side looked to level in the dying seconds. Their shot ricocheted off the goal post and Audas collected it and cooly slotted the break away — with the Stampede leaving an empty goal — to seal the victory and celebrated with the rowdy Thunder faithful in the crowd. It was a great game and they will play in the second game in Queenstown tonight. The Stampede are formidable and will fight back as they aim to lift the title for the sixth time in a row. The Stampede had the better of the opening period. Maxwell Macharg took two minutes to slot through the first goal and Max Roth made it 2-0 in the power play. Cole Beckstead pulled one back for the Thunder, before Stefan Amston added another in the power play for the home side to lead 3-1 at the break. The Thunder came out firing in the second period, thanks to Canadian import Sam Loiselle’s hat-trick. He slotted through unassisted to open the period and then added two more to give the Thunder a 4-3 lead. Connor Harrison bagged another Stampede goal to level the score 4-4 and it looked like the game could be heading to overtime. But Eaden gave the Thunder the advantage before Audas sealed the win. Joel Gerard and Toby Schuck made a couple of crucial late saves for both teams. If the Thunder win on Saturday it will be the first time they have lifted the Birgel Cup.
