Week 17 Recap: Thunder clinch finals berth as Brave down Bears

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Brave hand Bears home loss

The Sydney Bears have suffered a 6-4 home loss at the hands of the Canberra Brave on Saturday afternoon at Macquarie.

The Brave led from the outset of the game, thanks to Austin Cangelosi and Tommy Steven getting them out to a 2-0 lead early in the first. Adam Kadlec responded to make the score 2-1 at the first intermission.

Casey Kubara crossed the 250 AIHL point mark with a second period goal, before Kadlec’s second made it a 3-2 game after two periods of play.

Canberra pulled away in the third thanks to Cam Marks and Jake Ratcliffe, despite a response from Tomas Landa and Lucas Hermann. Bayley Kubara sealed the game 6-4 with an empty-net goal and the Brave closed the distance on Newcastle at the top of the table.

Canberra are now just 3 points shy of the first placed Newcastle Northstars with 3 games remaining.

The Brave host the Central Coast Rhinos this week, while the Bears travel west for a double header with the Perth Thunder.


 
Ice Dogs take full 6 points with wins over Adelaide, Brisbane

The Sydney Ice Dogs have taken a 6-point weekend in the closing stages of their 2024 season, with a 5-2 win over the Adrenaline and a 4-1 win over Brisbane.

Sydney jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes over Adelaide on Saturday, thanks to defenceman Mike Dalhuisen and a pair from Alex Macdonald despite a 13-13 shot count.

Shaun Dosanjh’s 7^th of the year arrested the slide for Adelaide, until Dmitri Kuleshov made it 4-1. Marcel McGuinness’ second the year closed the gap to 4-2 after two periods of play.

Adelaide outshot Sydney 13-6 in the final period but could not beat Arvid Ljung, with Alex Macdonald completing the hat-trick for a 5-2 victory, sweeping the season series 3-0 over the Adrenaline.

The Dogs then faced the other playoff contender in the Rurak Conference on Sunday but went 1-0 down early courtesy of Arum Rapchuk in the first period.

A stalemate ensued in the second period, until Kuleshov and Dalhuisen each scored their respective second goal of the weekend to bring the ice Dogs in front 2-1 to close out 40 minutes.

Sydney kept the pressure on through the final period, with Macdonald and Kuleshov adding to their goal tallies for the weekend and earning the Dogs a 4-1 win.

The Ice Dogs sit on 29 points with four more games to play to close out their year.

The Ice Dogs travel to Melbourne for games against the Mustangs and Ice, while the Lightning host the Adrenaline to decide the final playoff spot.
 
Lightning edge Rhinos to remain in third spot in Rurak

The Brisbane Lightning have held off the Central Coast Rhinos 1-0, keeping their lead over Adelaide Adrenaline as the race for the final playoff spot in the Rurak Conference reaches it’s climax.

In a tight game which produced relatively few chances, the Lightning were unable to find a way past Anand Oberoi for two periods until late in the third thanks to Batu Gendunov’s 11^th of the season.

Brisbane went 0/2 on the power play, while the Rhinos went 0/3.

Curtis Meger made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season, while Oberoi stopped 29 of 30 in the loss.

The Rhinos face Canberra for the final time this year in the nation’s capital followed by the Northstars at home, while the Lightning have a pivotal double header at home to Adelaide.


 
Northstars restore lead at top of Rurak with win over Rhinos

The Newcastle Northstars remained on top of the Rurak Conference for another week, with a 3-0 win over the Central Coast Rhinos on Sunday at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium.

Francis Drolet maintained 5^th position in the AIHL scoring race with his 19^th goal of the year, midway through the first period. He was followed shortly by Daniel Berno and a 2-0 lead for the Northstars was the story of period one.

The Northstars outshot Central Coast 16-11 through the second period but couldn’t generate a goal, and it took until 4:56 remaining in the third before Patrick Nadin sealed a 3-0 victory for Newcastle.

Charlie Smart stopped all 23 shots for his first shutout since 2015. Oberoi turned aside 46 of 49 at the other end in the loss.

Newcastle sit atop the Rurak Conference with 46 points, 5 points clear of the Brave with two games to play. The Rhinos and Northstars play each other for the final time next week at Erina.

Thunder qualify for finals despite pair of losses in Melbourne

The Perth Thunder have punched their ticket to the AIHL Finals Series for 2024, despite going down 5-1 to the Melbourne Ice and blowing a 4-0 lead to the Mustangs in a 5-4 overtime loss on Sunday.

Perth needed only a solitary point from the weekend to lock up third spot and secure their place in the 2024 AIHL Finals Series.

It would be the Thunder who would strike first on Saturday night through Natan Vertes, with his 7^th of the year getting Perth ahead.

That would be the only lead they would have for the game, as Roman Kraemer tied it on the power play 4 minutes later to head into the first intermission tied at 1-1.

It was all Melbourne from there. Jeff Solow and Joey Hughes made the lead 3-1 in the second period, piling on a massive 26-12.

Austin Albrecht and Jed Lake added one more each in the third to grab the Ice three points and keep them 4 points clear of the third placed Thunder in the Hellyer Conference.

The Thunder still needed a point and this time needed it over the team directly behind them, with the Mustangs needing a regulation win to stay alive in the finals race.

The Thunder atoned early for their performance against the Ice with a better start on Sunday against the Mustangs jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Yu Hikosaka, Alastair Punler and Kieren Webster all tallied to stun the Icehouse crowd early on.

The trend continued in the second as Yannic Lodge batted in a shot at point blank range for a 4-0 lead before the end of period.

However, the Mustangs pulled the UNO reverse card and started a comeback through Hayden Dawes’ 12^th goal of the season just before the break at 4-1.

Ty Wishart grabbed a goal less than a minute into the second period made it 4-2 and the Mustangs had a sniff. Wishart added another on the power play after a hooking penalty to Jordy Kyros, before Dawes’ second on the power play tied the game with exactly 5 minutes to go.

The Mustangs threw everything at Perth, not wanting the game to head to the overtime period but even with Logan Flodell pulled they couldn’t muster another.

Scott Timmins sealed the game for Melbourne in the overtime period with a power play goal, for a 5-4 pyrrhic victory for the Mustangs who are now eliminated from finals contention.

Perth will warm-up for their AIHL finals campaign with three straight home games to close out 2024, with two against the Sydney Bears this weekend. The Mustangs host the Ice Dogs in their final home game for 2024 on Saturday.