Week 9 Recap: Lightning's ‘Big Three’ dominate

---

Another dramatic round of hockey has concluded around Australia as the league standings continue to take shape.

Entering the latter half of the season, the Melbourne Ice are clear favourites to secure the minor premiership, thirteen points clear of the second-placed Brisbane Lightning. However, playoff spots are still up for grabs as the Thunder and Lightning dropped points this week, Newcastle and Canberra lurking as potential risers.

So, here are the key moments from the seven games this weekend.



Rhinos fall to standings’ basement as Adrenaline sweep home series

Adelaide have jumped Central Coast to escape the dreaded eighth place in the AIHL standings, convincingly dispatching the Rhinos at home 7-2 on Saturday and then 4-1 on Sunday.

The story of Adelaide’s season so far has been their excellent first periods, but their inability to capitalise in the second and third frames of play. That finally changed this weekend. The Adrenaline outshot Central Coast 25-3 in the first period in Saturday’s ledger, the largest disparity in shot attempts in a period in any game this season. That earned the Adrenaline a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes, both goals scored on the powerplay via Remy McGuinness and Australian international star Zachary Boyle.

While the Rhinos made their presence felt in the remaining 40 minutes, trailing by only a goal for much of the second period and only being outshot by 4, they were unable to capitalise on their limited offensive opportunities, just 21 shots on goal. The Adrenaline built further momentum with an early third period dagger, with their offense becoming impossible to contain.

As has been a Rhinos tradition this year however, the second game of their back-to-backs was significantly better, especially defensively. They came out blazing in Sunday’s battle, unloading 15 shots on goal and holding Adelaide to just six, yet, even with more puck possession, the Adrenaline were creating the better-quality chances. That established a 2-0 lead at the first intermission for Adelaide and the energy to hold off the Rhinos’ brief surges on the rush as the game progressed.

Nathaniel Benson has again established himself as a key playmaker for the Adrenaline, not just as a scorer, recording five assists this weekend to take him to 14 points in as many games. The Rhinos, on the other hand, will return to the drawing board as they look to save their season with matches against Perth and the Mustangs at Erina Ice Arena next week.



Ice hand Mustangs reality check in third derby

The Melbourne Ice took a 2-1 advantage in the Melbourne Derby series on Friday night, convincingly defeating the Mustangs 7-3. This was the most heated derby yet with 15 powerplays and 78 penalty minutes combined, but the Ice were able to remain more composed and take advantage with an extra man.

That was how the scoring was opened, Joakim Erdugan scoring his ninth of the season from Liam Webster and Jamie Bourke. Eight minutes later Mackenzie Caruana scored to extend the lead to two, but Scott Timmins gave the Mustangs life in the final moments of period one, the scorecard reading 2-1 at first break.

As mentioned, the Ice were the ones who capitalised with special teams on the rink. Not only did they go 2 for 7 compared to the Mustangs 1 for 8, but they also scored shorthanded twice. Those moments were absolutely demoralising for the orange and black, who quickly fell into a 5-1 hole after David Booth opened the second period with a shorty, conceding three goals in a catastrophic five minutes.

Booth’s penalty killing ability looked incredibly overpowered in this fixture, scoring on the first shorthanded shot and assisting on the second. He now has 17 points in just four games, ten of which have occurred on a powerplay or penalty kill. He’s turned an already tough to beat Ice team into a near-unstoppable force.

Expect more fireworks between these fierce rivals on Friday July 4, when the fourth and final Melbourne Derby of 2025 – before the post-season at least – will take place.



Thunder miss out points in Melbourne trip

Perth’s grasp on a top four spot is slipping as they failed to tally any championship points in their weekend in Melbourne.

The Thunder scored just five total goals this week, which is typically what they average in one game. Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Ice will sting especially, as they impressively matched the Ice’s star power in terms of shot attempts and shot quality too. However, Ice goaltender Tatsu Ishida was in peak form and slammed the door shut on 40 of Perth’s 42 snipes at goal, a brilliant .952 save percentage securing a statement win. In fact, the Thunder were unable to score at even strength, only getting past Ishida on the powerplay.

Speaking of the powerplay, that’s where the Ice once again exposed their opponent. An undisciplined first period saw the Ice snare a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity up 1-0, which they scored on quickly, before completing the double powerplay two minutes later for a 3-0 advantage. Goals number four and five also came at the expense of a Perth skater, Kolton Shindle putting the Ice up 4-1 after Yannic Lodge’s trip and Booth notching another PP goal thanks to Yu Hikosaka’s tripping call.

Hikosaka, the league’s leading scorer, was well held this weekend by both Melbourne sides, registering just two assists. In Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Mustangs, he was off of the score sheet entirely, Melbourne paying extra attention to him in the offensive zone with a slightly more physical approach.

That didn’t stop Perth from putting up a fight in a crucial standings battle, the winner claiming third on the ladder. However, Perth’s powerplay did a 180 from the previous day, not only failing to score on five powerplays but conceding twice on the same man advantage, Mustang Dean Klomp netting the pair 14 seconds apart to take a 3-2 lead at the second intermission.

It sent the O’Brien Icehouse into a frenzy that was difficult to overcome for the travelling team, a clutch third period powerplay goal from Mac Roy sealing a thrilling 4-3 win for the Mustangs.

It’s clear Perth are not too far off these Melbourne sides and perhaps the tables turn when they have home ice advantage. However, as the playoff race tightens, missing out on at least some overtime points here could hurt down the stretch, especially when their wingers were creating high-danger chances at an elite rate this weekend.



Potent ‘Big Three’ emerges as Brisbane, Canberra trade wins

The second weekend at AIS Arena this year produced two barnburners and arguably one of the games of the season.

Saturday’s 8-6 win for Brisbane was a heavyweight tilt and a game separated in two halves. Brisbane kicked things off in emphatic fashion, scoring a powerplay and shorthanded goal in the opening ten minutes via Carson Miller and Jules Sturny. Miller would net his second of the match a couple minutes later to extend the margin again and things appeared completely out of control for Canberra when Jules Sturny put Brisbane up 4-0 at the first intermission.

What was worse for Canberra is they actually outshot the Lightning in this period and had more powerplay minutes but that potentially gave them the belief that, despite the deficit, this game was far from over.

It looked that way to begin the second period too, Matthew Harvey and Nils Carnback scoring to reduce the deficit to two, but Brisbane quickly regained their control via a second-period hattrick from Jules Sturny. Sturny’s scoring brilliance was one save away from being a natural hattrick too, but Canberra’s Jacob Carey scored 27 seconds before Sturny’s fourth for the match.

That left a 7-4 scoreline entering the final 20 minutes. Game over, right? Think again. The reigning champions, even with a sluggish first half of the 2025, are never out of it and ramped up Brisbane’s nerves with two early third period goals to create a 7-6 game. With 51 shots on net and a raucous Canberran crowd, Lightning goalie Matus Trnka came under immense pressure to avoid a stunning comeback but held his nerve, Tanner Hopps' empty net goal giving Brisbane players and fans alike a sigh of relief.
The Brave found a way to somewhat take the edge off Brisbane’s star-studded top line on Sunday, however. That was to force them into extended defensive efforts by increasing the volume of shots on net, something that completely changed the trajectory of the game after the first 20 minutes.

Canberra emptied the barrel, 60 shots in total for the game to Brisbane’s 38, enabling a successful comeback this time around. After going down 4-2 in the first period, Canberra would not concede again, allowing just eight shots in the second period, and ultimately chase down the deficit to win 6-4.

The biggest takeaway from these two classics in Canberra? There’s officially a ‘Big Three’ in Brisbane. Jules Sturny, Carson Miller and Tanner Hopps combined for all eight goals for the Lightning on Saturday and recorded six points each. That level of dominance from three players is unheard of. Even the Mustangs elite top line of Scott Timmins, Ty Wishart and Zack Phillips are yet to achieve such a feat in their time together.

Even Sunday’s loss was a special game for this line, Sturny, Miller and Hopps working in some combination to score or assist on three of Brisbane’s goals. There is simply no better line in the AIHL at the moment than this trio; it’s clear they will be the ones to lead Brisbane back to playoffs in 2025.