Week 15 Recap: Thunder, Mustangs split points in Perth

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Thunder and Mustangs share points in Perth

The Perth Thunder and Melbourne Mustangs have split a two-game series in WA at the weekend, with the home side prevailing 5-3 on the Saturday and the visitors winning 6-3 on Sunday.

Rylan Freed got the Mustangs off to a great start on Saturday afternoon with a power play goal and his 6^th of the season, until Natan Vertes answered 6 minutes later for a 1-1 scoreline at the intermission.

Ville Tenosalmi grabbed a power play goal 90 seconds from the restart after a slashing penalty to Freed, to give Perth a 2-1 lead. Tenosalmi then set-up Ben Breault just 6 seconds later and suddenly the Thunder had a two-goal lead after 40 minutes of play.

Despite being outshot 28-15 through two periods, the Mustangs got back in the game through Hayden Dawes less than a minute into the final frame. Scott Timmins tied the game on the power play moments later after Rob Haselhurst was given a holding penalty, and a 3-3 tie saw the momentum with the visitors.

However, Ben Berard capitalized on a power play with 11:15 to go to put Perth back in front, and Tenosalmi added a late short-handed goal to give Perth a 5-3 win and the 3 points.

The tables would turn on Sunday, as Timmins opened the scoring within 30 seconds for a 1-0 Mustangs lead. Yu Hikosaka and Berard would respond for the Thunder for a 2-1 lead at the break, despite being outshot 17-13 for the period.

The second period was a penalty-filled affair, which generated multiple opportunities on the man-advantage for both teams. It would be the Mustangs that would benefit, as power-play goals to Dawes and Ty Wishart broke the game open 3-2 for Melbourne.

Wishart added another power play goal on the other side of the second intermission to double Melbourne’s lead to 4-2.

Berard attempted to claw Perth back into the game with a short-handed goal with 10:55 to play, but it would be too late. Freed restored the Mustangs’ lead to 5-3 again on the power play with 8:08 remaining and Yuga Kikuchi sealed the points with an empty net goal for a 6-3 Mustangs’ win.

Perth now move to 43 points, 11 clear of the Mustangs with 6 games to play.

The Mustangs face the Ice on Friday night at the Icehouse, followed by the Northstars on Saturday. Perth travel to Sydney to do battle with the Ice Dogs and Bears on consecutive nights at Macquarie.
 
Lightning defeat Ice to stay in playoffs contention

The Brisbane Lightning have defeated the Melbourne Ice 5-3, to remain in third spot in the Rurak Conference.

With the Adrenaline just a few points behind, it was a crucial win for the Queensland side to stay in the playoffs race with just a few games remaining in the season.

Chance Adrian got them going just over a minute into the game on Saturday on the power play, after an early slashing penalty to Jamie Bourke, earning the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Batu Gendunov extended that to 2-0 with a power play goal of his own just 6 minutes later, his 9^th goal on the season. It was then 3-0 thanks to Mitchell Dyck and the third power play goal from 3 straight attempts for Brisbane.

Roman Kraemer got a goal back for the Ice just 2:35 from the end of the first period where it ended 3-1.

An undermanned Ice tightened things up in the second, limiting the Lightning to just 9 shots and getting the only goal of the period through Kraemer again to close the gap to 3-2.

Both teams locked down the neutral zone in the third period, with neither side getting much in terms of quality chances. Gendunov broke the deadlock on the power play with 6:07 remaining, to give the Lightning a two-goal buffer.

Lliam Webster’s 10^th of the season just two minutes later gave the Ice a chance of stealing the points, until Julian Fodor added an empty-net goal in the final minute for a 5-3 Brisbane win.

The Lightning now remain 4 points clear of the Adelaide Adrenaline with 7 games left to play in 2024. They travel to Adelaide for a two-game series this weekend, while the Ice have the Mustangs and Northstars at home.


 
Adrenaline need overtime to get past Northstars

The Adelaide Adrenaline have continued their late season surge with a 3-2 overtime win over the Northstars in Newcastle.

Francis Drolet continued his march past 50 points, with the opening goal just two minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead. It wouldn’t be until the final minute of the period that the Adrenaline would equalise through Daniel Chen, ending 1-1 after 20 minutes.

The second stanza was almost identical to the first where Drolet scored first and the Adrenaline answered late, on this occasion through Julian Friedrich and again the game was tied, this time 2-2 at the final change.

Both teams had their chances and had two opportunities each on the power play in the third but couldn’t convert, and the ensuing overtime period could not separate them either.

It wasn’t until the 7^th round where Kaden Elder finally managed to score the only goal of the entire shootout, handing a 3-2 win for the Adrenaline and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

The Adrenaline now sit just 4 points behind Brisbane who they will play 4 times out of their remaining 7 games, including a double header at home this weekend.

With the overtime point sealing their playoffs ticket, Newcastle head to Melbourne to face both the Mustangs and Ice this weekend.
 
Ice Dogs too good for Rhinos

The Sydney Ice Dogs have taken their 8^th win of the year over the Central Coast Rhinos, 6-3 at Macquarie Ice Arena on Saturday night.

The Rhinos got the jump on the hosts in the first with Mackenzie Bolger and Alex Wardlaw scoring within 30 seconds of each other, to jump out to a 2-0 Rhinos’ lead early in the first. Bray Crowder answered with his third of the year just before the break, to pull it back to 2-1 after one period.

This time it would be the Dogs who struck twice early in the period, as Alex Macdonald tallied his 18^th and 19^th of the year to pull Sydney in front 3-1. The Rhinos battled back but it would be Connor Lee making things harder for them, as his 4^th goal just 13 seconds from the second intermission extended the Sydney lead to 4-1.

Central Coast refused to go away and Samuel Hou Gustafsson got them back within one with a power play goal, with 11:59 to go in regulation. However, Macdonald would complete his hat-trick and Grant Toulmin added one more for a 6-3 Ice Dogs' victory.

Anand Oberoi stopped 29 of 35 in the loss, while Arvid Ljung turned aside 32 from 35 shots faced in the win.

The Ice Dogs move to 23 points on the year and will host the Thunder on Saturday night. The Rhinos remain on 18 points and host the Brave at Erina on the same day.


Photo: David Tate
 
Brave cruise past Rhinos in hunt for first spot

The Canberra Brave have continued their pursuit of Newcastle for top spot, with a comfortable 7-2 victory over Central Coast in the nation’s capital.

An even first period produced few chances for either side, until Matt Harvey opened the Brave’s account with his first for the season and a 1-0 lead midway through the first.

The second goal would not come until halfway through the second, where Jake Carey’s 11^th of the year made it 2-0 Brave. Nick Christensen added to his assist on the Carey goal with a goal of his own just 3 minutes later, and the hosts had a comfortable 3-0 buffer. Carey then made it 4-0 to Canberra 3:12 from the intermission, with the Brave piling on 23 shots to 5 through 40 minutes.

Harvey’s second and a shorthanded marker from Austin Cangelosi added salt into the Central Coast wound at 6-0, before the Rhinos ended the shutout bid of Alex Tetreault with power play goals to Alex Wardlaw and Sam Gustafsson.

It would prove to be no more than a consolation, as Jake Ratcliffe completed a 7-2 rout for the hosts and handed them another 3 points to close the gap on Newcastle at the top of the Rurak Conference.

The two teams will face each other again for the final time this season at Erina this Saturday.
 
Bears defeat Adrenaline to remain top

The Sydney Bears led all the way in a victory over the Adelaide Adrenaline at Macquarie Ice Arena on Sunday night, extending their gap over the Melbourne Ice at the top of the Hellyer Conference.

Brody Lindal continued his outstanding season with his 22^nd goal of the year, to open the Bears’ account with 14:04 to play in the first as Sydney put on 18 shots to 5 in the first period.

Carson Miller resumed the scoring nearly three minutes into period two with his 5^th for 2024, as the Bears continued to shell Rylan Toth. The Adrenaline had one power play chance after Brian Funes was ruled off for delay of game, but couldn’t make the Bears pay on the scoreboard.

They finally converted in the third, with Remy McGuiness capping his recent return to the Adelaide line-up with a goal to make it 2-1 with 14:22 left in regulation.

However, Tomas Landa and Lucas Hermann put the game beyond doubt despite a late addition by Marcel McGuinness and the Bears remained the best team in the competition with a 4-2 win.

Anthony Kimlin stopped 20 of 22 in the win, while Toth turned aside 38 of 42 in the loss.

Sydney remain atop the Hellyer Conference on 63 points and will play the Thunder on Sunday at Macquarie.

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