Mustangs v Ice Dogs Preview

Those north of the Victorian border love to make fun of the weather here, but it does seem to inconvenience us a lot less often. This Sunday the MOAT: Melbourne Mustangs will finally play a game that was scheduled for the first week of June and then called off due to flooding in Sydney. The Mustangs made the trip to Liverpool to play the Sydney Ice Dogs, but with an increasing amount of water on the roads, it was deemed unsafe to proceed with the game and it was postponed until a later date.

In some ways the Mustangs are fortunate, as previously cancelled AIHL games have not been able to be rescheduled, but now, a weekend that was expected to offer some respite from the season, instead has them packing their bags and heading up the Hume Highway in pursuit of three much-needed points. The teams ahead of the Mustangs are all currently on winning streaks so they need every point they can get.

The Mustangs will head to Sydney full of confidence following back-to-back victories on the road in Adelaide. They were able to dictate the play from the opening puck drop, resulting in a 4 -1 lead after the first period. Two goals within 20 seconds to Vadim Virjassov enabled the Mustangs to take early control of the first game and his third goal for the weekend, with under a minute to play in the second period of the second game, gave the Mustangs the upper hand on their way to completing a season sweep of the Adrenaline.

Meanwhile the Ice Dogs were proving to be a tough adversary on the road against the Perth Thunder. At times they held a lead over their more fancied opponent before being overrun and giving up late goals. However, a week earlier in their last home game, they defeated the Thunder and will be looking to contain the Mustangs in much the same way.

When the Mustangs last travelled to Sydney they refused to be drawn into the Ice Dogs physical style of play. Despite copping some heavy hits, the Mustangs remained composed and hurt the Ice Dogs on the scoreboard racking up eight goals. Leading the way, with four goals and an assist, was Jamie Bourke. The Mustangs will again have to play with composure and focus on scoring, rather than retaliation, if they are to be successful.

As points are at a premium the Mustangs absolutely must take advantage of this rescheduled game. They do have the benefit of Saturday off while the Ice Dogs battle the Adrenaline, so if they can start strongly and weather any fightback, the outlook is positive that they can return to sunny Melbourne as victors.