Week 13 recap: Brave, Northstars on the rise after sweeping weekend series

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Brave jump into top four with dominant wins over Mustangs

Canberra have rocketed into the top four after they convincingly dispatched the Melbourne Mustangs 4-0 on Saturday and then 8-4 on Sunday.

The Mustangs run of poor form has continued, losing six of their last eight contests, which has seen them tumble to sixth in the standings with a points percentage below .500 for the first time this season.

Melbourne’s offense couldn’t get firing in Saturday’s fixture, going 0 for 7 on the powerplay and managing just 28 shots on net for the game, the fewest total this season. In their rare high-danger moments, Brave goaltender Alex Tetreault was poised and shut the door on every opportunity, earning himself the first shutout of his AIHL career.

However, Melbourne’s offense came to life on Sunday, firing 31 shots on net in the first two periods to take a 4-3 lead into the final change. Ty Wishart ensured the ‘Stangs special team woes ended with an early powerplay goal in the second, and while Canberra encroached on Melbourne’s lead multiple times, they couldn’t find a way to get ahead entering the fourth.

However, a moment of misjudgement would cost Melbourne dearly and cause a huge collapse in the final period. After tying the game at four goals apiece, the Brave established puck control and were finally able to generate consistent offensive opportunities, leading to two frustrated penalties from Melbourne skaters; an elbowing penalty on Hayden Dawes, soon followed by a high-sticking call on Ty Wishart.

Losing Wishart, arguably the Mustangs’ most important penalty killer, gave the Brave a dangerous 5-on-3 advantage to which they’d inevitably score twice on, Kale Costa and Thomas Steven putting the Brave up 6-4. Melbourne couldn’t regain momentum from there and conceded twice more to slump to their 11^th loss of the season.



Northstars close standings gap with wins over Brisbane, new points leader emerges

Newcastle is gaining ground on the other championship contenders, well past their slow start that had them outside the playoff picture in the early parts of this season. In Week 13, they clinched two massive victories over Brisbane, the clubs now separated by just three points in the standings.

Newcastle’s offensive firepower torched the Lightning’s defence, scoring five of the first six goals in Saturday’s game. Evgenii Skachkov and Kim Tallberg are almost guarantees to score every game for the Northstars these days, with the pair combining for six points. Tallberg’s two goals takes him for 17 for the season, which ranks eighth in the entire league, while Skachkov isn’t far behind with 12 of his own.

Young gun Ethan Hawes also had one of his better games of the season in the Northstars 7-4 win, with two beautiful assists in the first period that set up the Newcastle win.

Sunday’s fixture played out in a similar way, with a hot start from Newcastle giving them the breathing room to hold on for a comfortable victory, this time winning 8-4. However, despite the dominance from Casey Kubara, Skachkov and Tallberg, combining for 10 points, the bigger story of this game came from the losing side.

Tanner Hopps has now taken the lead for most points this season, with his six points across the weekend taking him to 52 total for the season. The Canadian import has been on fire in his debut season for the club, registering at least two points in all of his last 14 games.

Hopps has impressively taken the lead from Yu Hikosaka (49 points) while playing in two less games. In fact, Hopps’ points-per-game average of 2.9 ranks third in the league, behind Northstar Skachkov (3.1) and former NHLer David Booth (4.6).


Thunder cruise in Central Coast beatdown

Perth have one hand on an all-important top two position after defeating the Rhinos 8-2 and 8-0 over the weekend. The Thunder now have a four-point lead on the Lightning after Brisbane lost their two clashes against Newcastle, placing Perth in the driver’s seat to secure a guaranteed spot in the semi-finals with just over a month left to play.

It was a sensational weekend from Yu Hikosaka who recorded his third four-goal game of the season on Saturday, taking his season tally to a league-best 26 goals.

He was well held on Sunday however, as the Rhinos took a more focused defensive approach to the Japanese import, but the Thunder still managed to record another eight-goal effort – from eight different skaters no less.

Defenceman Jake Hamilton led from the blue line in that game, scoring a goal and tallying three assists for a season-high four-point night. The Thunder will now travel east with Central Coast to play them again this Saturday as the Rhinos hope to learn from this weekend’s shortcomings and capitalise with home-ice advantage.