Weekend Review: Mixed Results Against Melbourne Teams

The weekend saw the Ice Dogs come away with three points out of a possible six against the two Melbourne teams.

Saturday - Melbourne Ice

After winning their previous encounter 6-1, the match on Saturday against the Melbourne Ice was a chance to avoid the bottom of the standings and gain some ground on the fourth-placed Mustangs.

The Ice Dogs were tasked with playing catch-up early when the Melbourne Ice created an odd-man rush on the counterattack and scored the first of the game 6:31 into the first period.

The second goal nine minutes later was a heart-breaker. The Ice Dogs attempted clearance bounced off the referee's skate and straight to the stick of an Ice skater, who had plenty of time to manoeuvre around Doornbos and double the lead.

It took just 24 seconds for the Ice Dogs to respond, a shot from the point by Vlasek led to a juicy rebound that Lukas Vaic flipped over the sprawling netminder and into the yawning cage.

Another odd-man rush saw the Ice restore their two-goal advantage after a won-faceoff in their defensive zone. The Ice Dogs got a powerplay a short time later and Daniel Pataky walked the blueline and ripped a bullet seeing-eye wrister through traffic and into the net. The period would end 3-2.

Another powerplay goal at the beginning of the third saw parity restored. Strat Allen deftly deflected a McGregor shot from the blueline and into the net.

Just a few minutes later the Ice Dogs had their first lead of the game. Strat Allen skated with the puck in the left faceoff circle and fired a wrister from a tight angle that found the back of the net to make it 4-3.

However, with 11:33 left in the third, the Ice tied the game with a shot that trickled through Doornbos from the right circle. It was a shot that Doornbos would likely want to have back.

Another odd-man rush led to the Ice taking a 5-4 lead. The initial two-on-one shot attempt was saved by Doornbos, but the puck was left lying in the blue paint for the Ice forward to shovel in the goal.

The Ice Dogs applied pressure desperately searching for an equaliser, but that's the way the game would end.

Sunday - Melbourne Mustangs

Sunday morning saw the Ice Dogs at the bottom of the AIHL standings after their loss, facing the daunting challenge of a Mustangs team fighting for third.

The Mustangs had two former NHL players in Scott Timmins and Ty Wishart, adding to the challenge. And it was Wishart who scored first for the Mustangs less than two minutes in, firing a wrister past Doornbos.

However, the Ice Dogs responded four minutes later on a beautiful passing play from the top line.

Cameron Todd collected the puck in his own zone, found Strat Allen in the neutral zone who passed to Jeremy Vasquez to gain the offensive zone. Vasquez played a perfect pass that Cameron Todd was able to step into with a clapper that found the back of the net to make it 1-1.

Just a minute and a half later, Strat Allen was hauled down on a breakaway and the referees called for a penalty shot. The towering forward skated in from the right side before deking and firing into the open left-side of the net making it 2-1.

Doornbos was forced into a series of spectacular saves to keep the lead, but the Mustangs' pressure paid off with Sean Jones putting away a Wishart feed to tie the game towards the end of the period.

Lukas Vaic put the Ice Dogs ahead just over a minute and a half into the second. A Mustangs player lost an edge in the offensive zone which led to an odd-man rush for the Ice Dogs. Pataky found a streaking Vaic who scored a similar goal to his first of the season against the Melbourne Ice a couple of weeks ago, firing low blocker side for the 3-2 lead.

Vaic went from goalscorer to provider with just under eight minutes in the second. A three-on-one opportunity developed and Vaic unselfishly passed to a wide open Thomas Voller in the slot who made no mistake in giving the Ice Dogs a 4-2 advantage.

After a tight-checking ten minutes of the third period, the top-line for the Ice Dogs connected again to give them a 5-2 lead. Cameron Todd passed to Allen who found a wide-open Vasquez who buried the one-timer from the right-circle for his first goal of the season and celebrated in style.

With the Ice Dogs on the powerplay a minute later, the Mustangs cut into the deficit. The ex-NHL connection was on full display as Wishart made a nice play on defence to elude the forecheck and found a streaking Timmins who scored shorthanded.

With just under six minutes remaining, the Ice Dogs put an end to the Mustangs comeback hopes. With the Mustangs on the powerplay, Vasquez cleared the puck to centre ice and found a streaking Dvinianov who deked past Woodlands for the 6-3 lead.

Bodies were flying to end the period, with extra-curriculars at the end of every whistle. But in the end, it was the Ice Dogs who won this round in a hard-fought contest.

What's Next?

The win lifts the Ice Dogs out of bottom spot on the standings, and puts them within three points of the fourth-placed Mustangs who hold the final playoff spot.

Coming up next for the Ice Dogs is the next instalment of the Sydney Derby as we play host to the Sydney Bears on Saturday evening. Make sure you get your tickets at icedogsshop.com.au.

Follow me on Twitter - @GordGoodenough