Mustangs v Ice Preview

There’s nothing like your biggest rival to bring out the best in you, and there is no bigger rivalry in the AIHL than when the MOAT: Melbourne Mustangs take on the Melbourne Ice. The Melbourne derby is always fiercely competitive and although victories haven’t come as often as they would like, the Mustangs take the most pride from games in which they defeat their local rivals.

This Thursday marks the second Melbourne derby of 2016 and the Mustangs will be ready for another intense battle. They will be looking for a big improvement on the first derby of the season, when the Ice jumped out to an early lead, through a Joey Hughes goal, and went on to claim a tense 3-0 win.

It was the first time the Mustangs have been shutout in a derby, although they are not the only team to have struggled to score on new Ice goaltender Troy Davenport. He is the current leader in goals against average with 1.72 per game and is a close second to Thomas Heemskerk in save percentage. He is guaranteed to make the Mustangs work for their goals, but if they can build on their last performance, a win over the Newcastle North Stars, they should be able to find a way through.

The Mustangs will be chasing their third win of the season and while consistency has been an issue, they will take a lot of confidence with the way they handled the North Stars last week. They quickly managed to turn a blowout loss one day into a comprehensive victory the next. It was especially promising to see a number of unexpected contributors to the scoring, including defencemen Jack McCoy (a goal and an assist) and Corey Stringer (three assists). There is still a lot of room for improvement, especially with regard to their special teams, but the result shows the Mustangs are capable of matching any team on the league.

After opening the season with a win over the Mustangs, the Ice have been undefeated in 2016. They already sit five points clear at the top of the table and 12 points ahead of the Mustangs. The Ice are returning from a successful trip to Brisbane, where they took on the Sydney Bears in the first set of AIHL games hosted in Queensland in four years. In front of sold out crowds, the Ice won both games narrowly to keep their perfect record intact. 

There are no real weaknesses in this Ice squad, but it is full of familiar faces and the Mustangs are well aware of their style of play. The key is to focus on the systems that worked so well for the Mustangs in the last game and not get drawn into giving away cheap penalties. It will be hard enough to stop the Ice at full strength, let alone giving them opportunities on a very potent power play.

The Mustangs will need to perform at their best to have any chance of victory, but the enticement of becoming the first team to defeat their number one rival this year should ensure they bring their A-game.

Melbourne Mustangs v Melbourne Ice
Thursday May 19, 8pm
O'Brien Group Arena

This is a Melbourne Ice home game and all Mustangs fans will need to buy tickets at bit.ly/MustangsTickets

Thursday Night is Locals Night at the James Hotel - why not pay them a visit before the game? They will also be staying open for Mustangs fans post game, so don't forget to drop by.