Originally published at theaihl.com

Aleksi Toivonen stopped everything he faced for his first career AIHL shutout and the KODIAK Melbourne Mustangs defeated the Sydney Ice Dogs 2-0, in a tight contest at the O’Brien Group Arena on Sunday night.

Brett Ferguson opened the scoring for the Mustangs early, after Strat Allen got the gate for slashing. Ferguson took a cross-ice pass from Ben Davies and forced Curtis Skip to move to his right while shooting left, finding the gap and making it 1-0 to the Mustangs just 2:04 into the first period.

It was Ferguson’s 14^th goal on the year and his team-leading 6^th power-play goal for 2018.

Despite the early concession Skip was spectacular in net at the other end for the Ice Dogs, making several key stops to frustrate the Mustangs’ offence. Skip had the save of the game in the first period, when he dove to his right to deny Sean Jones point blank with the glove, after a nice set-up from Davies.

Skip nearly outdid himself minutes later when thrust the left pad out to deny Ferguson from the high slot, after a screen from Mitch Humphries to keep the score 1-0.

Lee Turner had the best chance of the period to equalise for Sydney after some good work from Brian Kolodziejczyk found him alone at the back post, only to put the shot wide.

It remained 1-0 heading into the first intermission with the Mustangs leading the shot count 10-5.

The second period turned into an arm wrestle with neither team able to gain a serious advantage. Melbourne outshot Sydney 7-4 but were unable to generate any quality chances or cause any serious trouble to Skip.

The Ice Dogs had a golden opportunity to bring the game back to parity on the scoresheet after penalties to Humphries and Troy Robertson gave them a 5-on-3 halfway through the period, however, the Mustangs’ penalty kill, led by Toivonen, held firm.

The third period turned into a goaltending showdown between Toivonen and Skip, with both goaltenders making several superb saves to keep their teams on even terms. The Ice Dogs piled the pressure on Toivonen in the first 5 minutes of the period but were unable to find a way through the Mustangs’ goaltender.

Geordie Wudrick, who was well held for most of the game, had a fantastic opportunity to tie the game when he dangled his way into the slot, only to be denied by the pad of Toivonen who also stopped the two follow up shots from the Dogs.

The Ice Dogs had two further opportunities to tie the game late, after penalties to Jamie Bourke and then Ferguson saw them with the man advantage for 4 of the final 5 minutes of the game.

Skip was pulled for the 6-on-4 but it proved unsuccessful. Nikita Kolesnikovs added an insurance goal, his 2^nd of the year, with an empty-netter with 2:07 remaining in the game and it turned out to be the sealer for the Mustangs, who took a 2-0 victory and a crucial three points.

The Ice Dogs currently hold second place with 35 points and will host the third-place Perth Thunder on Saturday 28^thJuly at Macquarie.

The 6^th placed Mustangs are on 25 points, 6 points behind the 4^th placed Sydney Bears and will take on the 5^th placed Newcastle North Stars at the O’Brien Group Arena on Saturday night.