Wrapping Up On The Road

The MOAT: Melbourne Mustangs have split the points in their final roadtrip of the 2015 season, coming home from Sydney with one win.

The weekend began at the Penrith Ice Palace against the Sydney Bears. A delayed start due to the late arrival of the referee didn’t tilt the ice in any teams favour, as both teams started slowly, appearing to be feeling each other out.

The Mustangs had the first power play of the game, but it was the Bears who scored first while shorthanded. Pat O’Kane tied the game four minutes later, and Matt Stringer quickly followed this up to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. Stringer’s goal was notable, as the second assist went to his younger brother Corey, the rookie’s first AIHL point.

This was the last time the Mustangs would have the lead in the game, as the Bears found the way past Fraser Carson twice more in the following minute to lead 3-2 at the first intermission.

The Bears continued their assault on the scoreboard throughout the second and the beginning of the third while goaltender Kamil Jarina repeatedly denied the Mustangs, to give the locals a 7-2 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Mustangs comeback was finally on, as Jamie Bourke, Vadim Virjassov, Viktor Gibbs Sjödin and Joey Hughes scored four more goals for the Mustangs in the final six minutes, but an early attempt at pulling Fraser Carson for an extra attacker backfired as Ales Padelek found the empty net for a final score of 8-6 to the Bears.

“I don’t think we played poorly, the Bears played well,” said Mustangs assistant coach Michael Flaherty. “They made their chances count, that’s something that we didn’t do. I’m proud of the way we finished off the game today. That third period was a good period for us. We build on that, we keep pushing, never give up, keep fighting and try to make it count.”

Sunday’s game was what we’ve come to expect from a matchup with the Ice Dogs in 2015. By the first intermission the Mustangs lead 4-0, including two shorthanded goals to Jamie Bourke just six seconds apart. The Mustangs got away from their systems in the second period, and the scoresheet reflected this with just one extra goal coming in the fifteen minute period, a power play goal to Pat O’Kane.

“There was times there where we broke down from our systems and structures and when we did that they got opportunities. When we got back to doing that it worked and we started to control the game again.” said Flaherty.

Clearly the Mustangs got back to controlling the game in the final period, with four more goals scored. These were split by a shorthanded goal to Sean Hamilton which broke Carson’s shutout. The most notable Mustangs goal went to Alan Moss, who scored his first AIHL career goal in his 67th game. The assists on the Moss goal went to both Matt and Corey Stringer, as the brothers got points on the same goal for the second day in a row.

With a final score of 9-1, the Ice Dogs fan who proclaimed before the game “anything less than 10 is a win for us” may have been as happy with that “victory” as the Mustangs were with theirs.

The Mustangs slim finals hopes rested on this do-or-die weekend, with six points needed to remain in striking distance of fourth place on the ladder. Bringing home just three does not mathmematically eliminate the team but the Mustangs now need CBR Brave to lose to the Sydney Ice Dogs, an unlikely scenario.

The Mustangs have three remaining home games, starting with a double header against the Adelaide Adrenaline this weekend.