The Newcastle Northstars have dropped to second on the Australian Ice Hockey League ladder but coach John Kennedy Jr took heart of his team's response during a mixed double header at home on the weekend.
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The Northstars bounced back against the Perth Thunder on Sunday having lost a top-of-the-table clash to defending AIHL champions and now outright competition leaders the Canberra Brave on Saturday.
Newcastle beat Perth 6-1 at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Sunday having gone down 6-2 to Canberra at the same venue.
"We looked a lot better and responded very well after yesterday," Kennedy said after Sunday's game with Thunder. "We looked at the tapes, spoke with a few players and got back to playing Northstars hockey."
Kennedy felt the Northstars "came together" in game two courtesy of clearer "communication" in both offence and defence.
"I didn't feel like we were working as a team," he said about the Brave game.
It was the first encounter of four, drawing a sell-out crowd to HISS. The loss was the Northstars second this season.
Import Sammy Banga scored two of Newcastle's four goals in Sunday's second period. Bert Malloy also converted during the second, along with recent Canadian recruit Luke Simpson. Perth's Keven Veilleux scored the visitor's lone goal.
Newcastle pair Pat Nadin and Jayden Ryan picked up goals in the first and third periods respectively. Ryan's goal was his first with the Northstars.
This result puts the Northstars three points behind Canberra on the overall standings after 14 outings, with the Brave defeating the Sydney Bears 6-3 on Sunday.
Canberra led from start to finish over Newcastle on Saturday. Banga and Tomas Landa scored at home.
The Northstars next face Sydney Ice Dogs in a Canada Day clash at HISS on Saturday. After a tough battle with the Ice Dogs in Newcastle on June 9, which the Northstars won 5-4, Kennedy said he was expecting another quality game.
"They're contending for a playoffs spot so they're going to come out hard," he said.
"The biggest thing for us is learning from this past Saturday and making sure we don't take any team for granted and come out and play our game from the get go, that we're playing together and communicating. It was a tight game last time and I believe it will be a tight game this time."
