The thrilling hunt for a top four seed has continued into week 12 of the AIHL season as the Melbourne Ice officially secured their place in the final weekend of August.
Here are the key moments from the six games this weekend.
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Ice guarantee playoff action with win in fourth Melbourne Derby
The fourth and final Melbourne Derby of the season saw another sold-out crowd roll in to O’Brien Icehouse on Friday night, a deserved electric atmosphere provided for two of the strongest Goodall Cup contenders.
While the Mustangs gave the Ice a strong fight, the star power of the Ice ensured Melbourne bled blue for a third time this season, powering to a 5-2 win in a blistering second period of action. The win officially guaranteed the Ice a place in the playoffs, now too many points clear to fall out of the top six.
Scott Timmins broke the deadlock early with a clean tuck on Tatsu Ishida, one of Ishida’s rare errors for the night. The top line of the Ice would soon respond before the first period expired, Bronte finding the back of the net on a set up from David Booth and Joakim Erdugan.
It appeared the Ice’s ill-discipline would cost them their chance to secure a post-season berth, giving up 40 penalty minutes for the match and seven powerplays. However, the Mustangs would manage just one successful powerplay, coming via Mac Roy to put them ahead 2-1 early in the second period.
The Ice would then capitalise on their few man-advantage opportunities to jump ahead, David Booth and Kolton Shindle scoring 90 seconds apart on two separate powerplays. A hard-nosed effort from Declan Bronte earned his first for the season to give the Ice a 4-2 lead, a deficit to large for the Mustangs to claw back from, Ishida shutting the door on all 14 of their third period attempts.
Five Ice players sit inside the top ten for points scored this season; Erdugan (46 points), Shindle (45), Caruana (44), Booth (41 in NINE games) and Bronte (38). It’s going to take a serious effort to upset this group, as the Mustangs found out on Friday.
Brave move to brink of top four, thrash Rhinos in 13-goal belting
Canberra’s AIS Arena is rapidly turning into a fortress, annihilating Central Coast 13-2 on Saturday night. The win was sparked by a spectacular 29-shot second period, which completely opened the floodgates for a dominant win.
Despite the ridiculous goal tally, only three Brave players scored more than once, with ten different skaters featuring in the score sheet. Nils Carnback set up plenty, however, registering a goal and four assists.
His goal was the first of three consecutive powerplay goals for Canberra, all scored in the second period just three minutes apart, Jacob Carey and Cameron Todd tucking the others. The Rhinos conceded just four powerplay opportunities for the entire game too, but the Brave were able to move them out of their penalty kill formation with precise passing and plenty of movement in front of the net, making life difficult for goalie Anand Oberoi.
The momentum was too much to handle for the Rhinos as their defence was repeatedly broken down in the final third, Canberra piling on seven goals on 19 shots to skate off in style. The win brings Canberra within a point of the 4th seeded Mustangs while having two games in hand, opening up an opportunity to jump ahead of them next week with the Mustangs traveling to AIS Arena for a weekend series. The stakes in those contests couldn’t be higher.
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Northstars split weekend series in Melbourne
Newcastle have built into 2025 strongly and could threaten for a top four spot, challenging the Ice in a heated 8-6 loss on Saturday before defeating the Mustangs on Sunday at O’Brien Icehouse, 5-2.
The Northstars fell into a 5-2 hole after 40 minutes on Saturday, struggling to manage the quick shots of Tyrone Bronte, who scored twice in the second period.
The match reached a boiling point as the Northstars piled on their high volume of shots, frustrating Tatsu Ishida by continuously encroaching on the blue paint. It caused Ishida to lash out during the second period and take a game misconduct, rubbing him out for the remainder match. It was a hot-headed moment that would cost the Ice momentarily, with young goaltender Tom Forrest forced to enter the match without much of a chance to warm-up.
The Northstars capitalised on the cold netminder, scoring twice shorthanded to open the third. Kim Tallberg who set up both shorthanded goals, would score on an ensuing Northstars powerplay – and then do so again one minute later at even strength. In the blink of an eye, the Northstars were up 6-5 and had the game in the palm of their hand.
It takes a full 60-minute effort to beat the Ice, however. A slash from Brian Funes and roughing call on Liam Ryan set up an Ice 5-on-3 opportunity and they, perhaps unsurprisingly, punished to level the scores.
Tyrone Bronte found his shot again with six minutes remaining, recording his first hattrick of the season to give the Ice back the lead. While Newcastle showed heart, outshooting Melbourne 19-9 in the final frame, an empty net Kolton Shindle goal effectively ended the contest.
There was certainly encouraging signs to be brought into Sunday for the Northstars. While the Mustangs were able to limit the Northstars shot attempts quite well, just 36 total for the match, a few lapses saw Newcastle stroll out to a 4-0 lead early in the second period.
While there was a brief surge from the Mustangs in the third period, the Northstars effective management of the puck would help them hold the lead for the remainder of the match. Tallberg’s powerplay goal at the beginning of the third period wound up as the game-winning goal and Evgeni Skachkov continued his hot form, starring as Newcastle’s primary assister on five of their eight goals. He now has 12 points in his last four games.
Newcastle will take on Brisbane at home next weekend in a potential playoff preview, the opportunity to claim a top four spot as golden as they will get.
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Trnka gets revenge as Lightning holds off valiant Adrenaline for weekend sweep
Brisbane have defied two electric Adelaidean efforts to cement themselves into second in the standings for the time being, winning 7-4 on Saturday and 4-2 on Sunday.
Adelaide have begun to find their rhythm in offensive zone setups, punishing the Lightning twice on the powerplay on Saturday. A flurry of chances late in the first and early in the second period put the Adrenaline up 3-2, but Brisbane wouldn’t be deterred.
Former Adrenaline goaltender Matus Trnka blocked away 23 of 24 second period shots from his former club and was rewarded for his clutch reactions, Tanner Hopps scoring twice to put Brisbane back in front.
Batu Gendunov and Alex Campbell each took advantage of opportunities of their own to extend the lead further and that sealed the deal.
Sunday was much more of a defensive battle with Trnka again impressing in net for Brisbane. The former Adrenaline backup stood tall with a .943 save percentage, taking his season average to .898, good for third-best in the league. He shutout Adelaide for the final 40 minutes, allowing Brisbane’s dynamic scoring top lines to emerge victorious, Hopps scoring the game winner ten minutes into the final third.
The Lightning can strengthen their hold on the all-important number two seed with wins over Newcastle next weekend, while Adelaide will wait a week to play the Mustangs, a weekend series beginning on July 19.
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MUSTANGS
ICE
BRAVE
THUNDER
RHINOS
NORTHSTARS
ADRENALINE
LIGHTNING
