The James Melbourne Mustangs had an ideal start to their weekend, winning the first AIHL Pride Game 6-3 over the Newcastle Northstars, meaning the event was successful both on and off the ice.

The Northstars recent return to 'attacking hockey' was obvious, with most of the possession to start the game. Two power plays came to nothing before Laim Manwarring scored his first AIHL goal wih three minutes left in the first period. Jamie Bourke then kicked off his three goal night leaving the game tied at the first intermission.

Decked out in rainbow Pride jerseys for the game, the Mustangs gave themselves some breathing room in the second period. Vadim Virjassov gave the team the lead less than a minute in, before Pat O'Kane and a shorthanded goal to Anton Kokkonen made it 4-1 and gave the Northstars a hill to climb in the third period.

Jamie Bourke's second of the game opened the lead even further before Steven Kuhn scored two goals to begin a claw back of the difference. After a six-goal third period in their previous game turned a 4-2 defecit into a 7-4 win, the Northstars would have been hoping history was repeating itself. Luckily for the Mustangs and their sold out home crowd Jamie Bourke completed his hat trick with an empty net goal to seal a three goal victory.

"We had some hunger and intensity today. Everyone stood up and contributed. We did the little things at times that mattered which is important," said Head Coach Michael Flaherty. "Those points are important but we need to make sure we get those points tomorrow. If we don't get those, todays points don't matter."

With the Northstars coming into the weekend just three points back of the Mustangs fourth place in the standings, a six point weekend would have helped the Mustangs keep them at bay. Unfortunately the Mustangs 2017 tale of being unable to close out the second game of a double header continued, giving the Northstars a 4-1 victory and three points to keep them in touching distance of a Finals spot.

After the only penalties of the game - one per team in the first period - the Mustangs opened the scoring through Pat O'Kane late in the first to take a lead into the first intermission. It looked like this lead would hold into the second as well until Joe Harcharik tied the game with just 31 seconds left in the second period.

Harcharik's second of the game early in the third to give the Northstars the lead seemed to deflate the Mustangs, so it didn't help when he completed his hat trick. After two icing calls when going for the empty net late in the game, the third time was a charm and Harcharik scored his and the team's fourth of the game. 

"It's disappointing. This weekend was an opportunity for us to make a statement and establish ourselves in the top half of the table and we've let that opportunity slip straight through our fingers." said Flaherty.

The Mustangs head to Perth this weekend to take on the second-placed Thunder. There is just one more weekend of home games remaining, when the Thunder come to Melbourne on August 19 and 20. Get your tickets here.