Sundays at the O’Brien Group Arena have been a cause for celebration for the MOAT: Melbourne Mustangs this year. Their only two wins have come on home ice when facing a travelling opponent on the second leg of a back-to-back. They will be hoping to make it three from three when the Sydney Ice Dogs head to Melbourne this weekend.
For the first time this year the Mustangs don’t have a game on Saturday and can rest easy as the Ice Dogs get worked over by the ladder-leading Melbourne Ice. All the Mustangs focus can go into turning up prepared on Sunday, as this is a game they cannot afford to lose.
The Mustangs will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss in the Melbourne derby. For the second time this year an early goal to Joey Hughes put the Ice on the board first. Jamie Bourke was able to pull the Mustangs level at 1-1, however the Ice then scored the next six goals on the way to a comfortable 7-2 victory. Special teams again struggled as despite managing to limit the Ice to two power plays, the Mustangs gave up a goal on one and were unable to convert enough of their opportunities with the extra man going 2-for-8 on the night. With the Ice Dogs known for a physical style of play, the Mustangs will need to sort out their structure on both power play and penalty kill, to be successful.
When the teams met last season the Mustangs took advantage of the disparity between the squads, scoring an average of 10 goals per game, but the Ice Dogs are showing considerable signs of improvement this season. They have already won one more game in 2016 than they did for the entire 2015 season. They too, have performed better on the second leg of back to backs, their two victories also coming on Sundays. However, both of those were in Sydney and their most recent performance was a 6-3 loss in Adelaide. In that game the Ice Dogs found themselves down 5-0 after two periods, but made it more of a contest in the final period, so the Mustangs will need to play out the full 50 minutes.
In a struggling team, Canadian import Strat Allen was the Ice Dogs top point scorer last year. He has returned for the 2016 season and is again leading the way, but this year he has much more support with help from the Stephenson brothers and David Dunwoodie returning to the squad. The Mustangs need to be wary of complacency as this team is rebuilding quite well.
Even with added depth among the Ice Dogs, the Mustangs should have enough skill to get the victory. The key is to start strongly and remain composed. They need to stick with the systems that worked for them in previous wins and play their possession game. If they can achieve that it should be another fun day this Sunday.
RHINOS
LIGHTNING
NORTHSTARS
ICE
THUNDER
ADRENALINE
MUSTANGS
BRAVE
