The Sydney Ice Dogs took home an impressive 5-1 win against the Bears on Saturday night in an action packed derby that exceeded all expectations, with a huge crowd cheering for the Dogs in the much awaited rivalry game.

From the beginning the home team maintained possession of the puck and worked cohesively to dominate the game. The first period remained scoreless until the final minutes when Grant Toulmin gave the Dogs a lead, which was extended less than a minute later when Nathan Chiarlitti tipped the puck past Bears goaltender Anthony Kimlin. The Ice Dogs were able to finish out the first period holding a 2-0 lead over the Bears.

There was no change on the scoreboard in the second period despite multiple good chances, including Nathan Chiarlitti’s slapshot from the point with 2:10 remaining in the period.

The Battle continued into the third period and again the Ice Dogs began creating strong scoring opportunities and strategic defensive plays. With less than two minutes played in the final period, forward Ellesse Carini created a breakaway opportunity which he capitalised on, giving the Ice Dogs a 3-0 lead. The Bears scored their only goal of the game with 15 minutes remaining but this was quickly followed up by Grant Toulmin’s powerplay goal which gave the Dogs a 4-1 advantage. An unreal save from new goaltender Curtis Skip at 9:30 stopped the Bears from cutting their deficit in half, and with the minutes winding down the Sydney rivals pulled their goaltender to get an extra attacker on the ice. Captain Scott Stephenson secured the win with his empty net goal at 1:23.

The Dogs wrapped up the game with a 5-1 win over the Sydney Bears. Newly signed Canadian goaltender Curtis Skip dazzled in his debut, making 28 saves for his first AIHL game. The goaltender himself enjoyed the game, saying “that was fun. I’ve never had a crowd sing my name in a song like that and the atmosphere was unbelievable. I think that was one of the funnest atmospheres i’ve ever played in front of.”

Ice Dogs head coach Andrew Petrie was also happy with the derby win and the teams ability to stay level headed. “I was really happy with the boys. We talked throughout the week on keeping a lid on ourselves emotionally” says Petrie. “Historically it brings out an uneven emotional result from the team when things get tight and competitive so they did a fantastic job of keeping a lid on themselves emotionally and I think that’s a big reason why we won the game as comfortably as we did”

The Ice Dogs are in Perth next weekend to face the Thunder in back to back games.