A strong win on Friday night had Southern Stampede fans believing the home team might just have its cake and eat it, too.
But it did not get the chance to savour the delights of its 10-5 win against the Dunedin Thunder and suffered a 6-4 loss on Saturday to its geographically closest rivals.
With the Stampede sitting at the bottom of the top heap, the three points lost in Saturday's match were desperately needed if the team was to make the final of the 2013 New Zealand Ice Hockey League - but fans should not stop believing just yet.
Just three points separate the Stampede from the top teams.
The lowest-ranked team, the West Auckland Admirals, now control which two teams end up on top and Stampede captain Simon Glass said while having to rely on the play of other teams was not the situation he wanted, he was confident his team could at least go out with a bang against the Canterbury Red Devils in two weeks.
He said with such a tight run to the finals, he was now reminiscing about some of the earlier games which could have been won and valuable points gained.
The Thunder's goalie, Matt Canaday, proved to be a wall against the Stampede's constant knocking on Saturday and Glass attributed his team's loss to Canaday's skill.
''It just shows how a good goalie can win a championship,'' he said.
Glass said his team played well and this showed when Canaday was pulled from the ice for making an obscene gesture and the Stampede shot a quick three goals past a different goalie ''who is still one of the best''.
Thoughts of a come-from-behind win were ignited, but ultimately it was too late and at the final whistle the Stampede finished on four to the Thunder's six.
Top goal scorer Matt Schneider was missing from the roster, as he was attending a wedding in Canada, but he will be back for the Stampede's final regular season games, to be played in Canterbury against the Red Devils next week.
''Obviously, there will be some guys finishing up,'' Glass said, and some others, him included, were unsure as to whether they would play another season.
But whatever the case, Glass said he had full confidence his team could end the season with two wins.
