For the first time in 2017 The James Melbourne Mustangs find themselves within the AIHL top four. Following another strong road trip, in which they returned from Canberra with four of six points, the Mustangs are finally among the playoff positions. The next challenge is to hold that spot down, as their upcoming opponents, the Sydney Ice Dogs, are only one point behind them and will be desperate to climb back ahead of the Mustangs when they travel to Melbourne this weekend.

The Mustangs will be full of confidence after impressive back-to-back games against the CBR Brave. Knowing it was essential to score frequently against the league leading offence, the Mustangs scored five goals in each game. If they can repeat that level of production this weekend, the Mustangs will have the upper hand over an Ice Dogs team that has only managed 39 goals for the season, the only team to have scored an average of under three goals per game.

Even more impressive about their games last weekend was the Mustangs ability to remain composed during the times they were outplayed by the Brave. They gave up a 2-0 lead in the first game to go to the first break 2-2, but scored the next three goals to take control of the game on their way to a 5-3 win. Then the next day fought back from 0-3 down, then again fought back two more times to take the game to a shootout, gaining that extra point that currently separates them from the Ice Dogs in the standings.

The Ice Dogs also head to Melbourne following a tough win over a top four opponent last weekend. They defeated Perth Thunder 5-3 in their annual Matt Clark Shield game, thanks to a hat trick from leading scorer Grant Toulmin. He is the one player the Mustangs will have to shut down this weekend having tallied precisely one third (13) of the all Ice Dogs goals in 2017. Toulmin also collected a hat trick last year when the Ice Dogs defeated the Mustangs in Melbourne.

While they aren’t scoring a lot of goals, the Ice Dogs are not letting many in either. They have allowed the least amount of goals per game and Canadian import Damian Ketlo has been outstanding in net. Ketlo currently leads all goaltending statistics, with a 2.37 goals against average, 0.934% save percentage and two shutouts, so the Mustangs will have to be persistent and put up a high shot count in the hope of getting a few past him.

With the race to qualify for the finals being so tight, the Mustangs can’t afford to give up points to a team with a similar record to them. Based on the first half of the season, it looks like the Mustangs and Ice Dogs may be fighting for a single spot in the finals and so this weekend results could prove to be the difference between who makes it and who misses out. 

Puck drop Saturday 5pm and Sunday 4pm. Get your tickets now!