Week 8 recap: Ice, Lightning achieve perfect weekends

Lightning stun Mustangs, complete weekend sweep

Brisbane’s charge toward the playoffs was electrified this weekend as they took down the in-form Mustangs 5-3 on Saturday and then 9-6 on Sunday in a thrilling late comeback.

The Mustangs ill-discipline hurt them immensely, giving Brisbane 23 powerplay opportunities over the course of the two games. While Brisbane went just 1/10 on Saturday, the penalty kill limited the number of extended offensive zone possessions for Melbourne, particularly in the decisive third period. They were limited to low danger chances and the occasional breakaway, so with the firepower in Brisbane’s top lines, they were unable to overcome the two-goal hole from the first period.

Unfortunately for Melbourne, nothing changed on Sunday and this time, Brisbane’s powerplay had plenty of practice to get firing. The Lightning would go 5/13 on the man advantage, so despite being outshot 45-35, they were able to rally enough high danger opportunities to slowly peg back a three-goal deficit. In fact, five of Brisbane’s nine goals came in the final third, Carson Miller with four points in the last 13 minutes to provide fans with a sensational comeback victory that will be remembered for a long time.

The Lightning now have 22 points in ten games played this season, ten fewer than the ladder-leading Melbourne Ice. However, with three games in hand on the Ice, and an impending clash between the two at IceWorld Boondall in two weeks’ time, Brisbane have a perfect opportunity to close that gap and potentially even jump into first place.

Drolet scores four as Northstars win crucial fixture over Brave

Entering this round, both Newcastle and Canberra hovered outside of the top four seeds, making this fixture a glorious chance to enter the playoff hunt and gain some breathing room in that fifth spot. With the Mustangs losing to Brisbane twice also, a full three points would close the gap to just one point between fourth and fifth.

The Northstars’ resilience was key after they suffered a disaster start, Canberra capitalising on an avoidable penalty from Shane Southwood. The tension for Newcastle heightened after failing to capitalise on their own powerplay minutes later, Thomas Steven scoring shorthanded to extend the Brave’s lead to 2-0. However, the offensive firepower of Newcastle showed up soon after, nearly doubling the Brave’s shot attempts by the end of the game.

Francis Drolet starred, scoring four, firmly entering the league’s leading scorer race. Evgenia Skachkov assisted on four of the Northstars six goals and despite trailing early in the second period 3-2, Newcastle kept finding responses. Their adaptability against Canberra’s physicality and tough defensive presence ensured they rebounded each time and ultimately, generated too many high danger chances to handle for Canberra’s starting goaltender Joel Hasselman, winning 6-4.

Canberra will look to revive what has been a dour season so far results-wise with wins over the Lightning next weekend, hoping to establish the AIS as a fortress for their success.

Former NHLer David Booth dominates in debut as Ice go unbeaten in New South Wales rout

The Ice have romped the lowly Rhinos and a spirited Northstars side in a cruisy weekend on the road. Melbourne’s latest import signing David Booth made an emphatic debut weekend, the 530-NHL-gamer notching six goals and an assist over the two matches.

Four of those goals were recorded in the Ice’s 9-2 win over Central Coast on Saturday. Anand Oberoi began well for the Rhinos in net, saving all 17 of the Ice’s first period attempts, ensuring the goal from Alexander Gauthier gave them the lead into the first intermission.

From there on out, however, it was all about Booth and the Ice. Melbourne tacked on two early goals to open the second period before the Rhinos briefly equalised for a total of 23 seconds. Booth would then net his first ever AIHL goal, beginning Melbourne’s run of seven consecutive goals, a further three coming off of his stick. Melbourne, who have one of the league’s strongest powerplays, have bolstered what has so far been a deadly man-advantage with Booth, two of his four goals coming after a Rhinos penalty. Ellesse Carini also starred for the Ice, his goal and two assists only trailing Booth’s five points for the game.

The Northstars made the Ice work for the win on Sunday, scoring the first two goals of the game through Evgenii Skachkov and Wehebe Darge just two minutes apart. Newcastle’s offense is starting to fire after an inconsistent first month, outshooting the Ice 17-11 in the first period and 49-32 for the game overall. However, Melbourne’s second period dominance continues to be a game-breaker, registering four goals in the middle frame of the match yet again. Booth’s second goal of the match was the ultimate game winner, going unassisted in the final minute of the period to put the win out of reach for Newcastle. Tyrone Bronte continues to build a strong season of his own for the Ice, notching his ninth goal in as many games, the Ice the only team with three players to have scored at least that many in 2025.

Adrenaline split weekend series in Perth

Adelaide are finding some form after a dreaded slow start to their 2025 campaign, stealing a valuable win from the Thunder in WA, 7-4. Perth would bounce back strongly on Sunday, however, flipping the script for a 7-4 victory of their own.

Saturday’s game began in perhaps what should be expected fashion; a Yu Hikosaka goal. Skyler Luo netted his first of the season shortly thereafter to extend the Thunder’s lead to two. Adelaide’s first periods, as mentioned in previous weeks, are a force to be reckoned with and Perth were unable to buck this trend. Less than a minute after Luo’s goal, Adelaide had drawn even with goals from Coy Prevost and Josh Adkins. They’d score twice more before the end of the first period, taking the lead via a 5-on-3 powerplay opportunity and then at even strength to go up 4-2.

Perth gained some much-needed momentum early into the second period, Kolby Johnson scoring just 23 seconds in and then capitalised on a powerplay of their own to even the scores at 4-4. It looked like both sides would enter the final frame at a deadlock, just 19 shots combined for the period with both defensive groups holding their ground firmly, but Ryan Foll broke through late from a nice pass from Steve Best, that moment ultimately being the game-winner as Perth generated just five shots in the third period, hardly testing Adrenaline goaltender Cale Dolan in net.

Sunday’s clash produced much of the same, a back-and-forth affair until the final period. A pair of goals each from Kolby Johnson and Ben Breault brought the house down in the dying stages as Hikosaka set up the goals this time around, two of his three assists coming in the third period.

Saturday’s loss has caused Perth to slip in the standings, making their trip to Melbourne next weekend that much more meaningful. The Adrenaline will take on the Rhinos in Adelaide, a weekend-series that could decide the wooden spoon of 2025.