Round nine of Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) action delivered some surprising results and close contests. Hockey Hype Australia takes a quick look at the results around the league.

Brisbane Lightning 4-1 Melbourne Mustangs

With Scott Timmins suspended for spearing, and Dean Klomp, Vadim Virjassov, and Matt Armstrong all unavailable, the Mustangs were up against it on the road.

The Brisbane Lightning showed no mercy and used a three-minute spell in the first period at Boondall to do the damage against the visiting Melbourne Mustangs. Patrik Popovics, Batu Gendunov, and Arum Rapchuk (PPG) all found the back of the net within 2:51 of each other on the game clock.

Maksim Astafiyev responded for the Mustangs before the period ended with his first goal of the season. However, with 1:12 remaining in the game and the Lightning on the powerplay Gendunov double dipped with a tip to make it a 4-1 final.

The Lightning outshot the Mustangs 33-20 in the contest and Curtis Meger has now saved 53 of 55 shots against in his last two appearances.

Melbourne Ice 6-3 Sydney Ice Dogs

It was a battle between two teams at opposite ends of the Hellyer Conference as the Ice travelled to Macquarie Ice Rink to take on the Ice Dogs. The first period was scoreless but the best chance of the game went to the Ice Dogs with Ice Dogs forward Dmitri Kuleshov putting the puck past Ice goaltender Tatsunoshin Ishida but denied by the crossbar.

Roman Kraemer broke the deadlock in his first game back for the Ice, before Joey Hughes doubled the lead with his 450th career AIHL point.

Less than a minute later, Raymond Khalil’s penalty expired to turn the four-on-four into an Ice powerplay, and Mackenzie Caruana sent him straight out of the box and onto a breakaway. Khalil finished five-hole on Ljung for the powerplay goal.

Joey Hughes added his second of the game, and Spencer Nave scored his first career AIHL goal to give the Ice a 5-0 lead heading into the final period.

Alex Macdonald pulled one back for the Ice Dogs. With the shutout out of the equation, the Ice pulled Ishida and put in Thomas Forrest.

Austin Albrecht, who had been kept quiet by Mike Dalhuisen, scored on the powerplay to stretch the lead to 6-1. Billy Cliff responded with a deft tip, his first goal since 2018, and Stepan Olkin scored his first career AIHL goal to make it a respectable 6-3 final.

Canberra Brave 5-3 Sydney Bears

Brave vs Bears games are always a must watch affair, and this episode was no different. The goal posts took some damage in the first period as the Brave got the puck past Bears goaltender Dane Brumm but not in the net.

A deft Jake Ratcliffe pass sprung Austin Cangelosi on a mini-breakaway midway through the period, and although he lost a handle on the puck it found its way five-hole through Brumm and into the net.

Tommy Steven doubled the lead in the first minute of the second period after a scramble in the crease. Good work behind the net by Cangelosi set up Ratcliffe in the slot who buried his rebound and ignited the raucous crowd in Canberra.

Cangelosi set up Mitch Henning less than a minute later with a sweet cross-crease dish and it was 4-0 going into the final break.

The Bears top line of Noah Moncrieff, Adam Kadlec, and Lucas Herrmann combined midway through the third to put the Bears on the board, with Herrmann finishing in tight. The Brave’s all-time leading scorer, Casey Kubara, restored the four goal lead just over a minute later.

A bullet from above the circles from Bears blueliner Ryan Annesley hit Aleksi Toivonen’s glove and trickled in to cut the lead to 5-2 with eight minutes remaining. Annesley scored again on the powerplay from almost the same spot on the ice with 3:44 left in the game.

Despite some nervy moments, the Brave survived to take away the 5-3 win and give the Melbourne Ice top spot in the league and conference.

Perth Thunder 4-2 Newcastle Northstars

The top team in the Rurak Conference, Newcastle Northstars, travelled west to take on the Perth Thunder. Newcastle fans were intrigued to see how new import goaltender Mitsuaki Inoue would perform.

The Thunder struck first in the second period. An offensive zone faceoff on the penalty kill was won by the Thunder and Rob Haselhurst skated onto the loose puck and found space short-side for the 1-0 Thunder lead.

Alastair Punler went to the box for the hosts for a five minute boarding call which appeared to be the perfect opportunity for the Northstars to tie the game and perhaps even take the lead.

However, it was the hosts again who scored shorthanded. Yu Hikosaka fought through traffic in the neutral zone and set up Ville Tenosalmi with a cross-crease feed to make it 2-0.

Daniel Berno pulled one back for the Northstars on the powerplay with 6:54 remaining in the third period off a lovely feed from Francis Drolet. But Hikosaka was involved in the insurance marker yet again, this time as the scorer, to make it 3-1 just over a minute after the Berno tally.

Kyler Matthews blasted one home from the blueline (PPG) to make it a one-goal game, but the Kieran Webster scored with the net empty for the 4-2 final result.

Melbourne Ice 4-3 Central Coast Rhinos

On paper, this game shouldn’t have been close. However, the Rhinos have proved a tough team to break down lately, and that proved the case yet again at Erina Ice Arena.

Mackenzie Bolger and Aziz Baazzi put the hosts up 2-0 early in the second period. Goals from Austin Albrecht and Christian Pansino evened the contest before the end of the period.

Albrecht scored his second of the game midway through the third for the first Ice lead of the game, but Hayden Dawes tied things up for the home team on the powerplay.

The Rhinos had an opportunity to take the lead late in the game with a five-on-three powerplay, but the Ice killed it off and took the game to overtime. Roman Kraemer scored his second goal and fifth point of the weekend to win the game in overtime and keep the Ice at the top of the standings.

Sydney Bears 6-2 Melbourne Mustangs

The Sydney Bears welcomed back Michael Schlamp and Anthony Kimlin to the lineup, and their return boosted the Bears coming off the loss in Canberra.

Brody Lindal turned a dominant opening two minutes from the Bears into a goal with his 13th of the season. Lucas Herrmann added a powerplay tally to make it 2-0.

Mustangs goaltender Logan Flodell was kept busy as the Bears outshot the Mustangs 18-5 in the period. Thomas Flack drew one back for the visitors in the second period with some great work in tight.

Adam Kadlec made it 3-1 for the Bears with a bullet from the right circle. But Bradley Apps kept the visitors close with a shot that squeaked through Kimlin with 1:41 left in the second.

Kadlec added a second on the powerplay, showcasing his elite shot, and at the same time drew level with Scott Timmins on the AIHL points leaderboard.

The 4-2 lead became 6-2 less than two minutes into the third period as both Lucas Herrmann and Brody Lindal scored their second goals of the game. Kadlec earned an assist on the Herrmann goal, giving him sole possession of top spot on the points leaderboard.

Sydney outshot their Melbourne rivals 57-16, and gave Kimlin the win in his first appearance of the season.

Perth Thunder 3-2 Newcastle Northstars

Charlie Smart took the crease for the visitors in the second half of the back-to-back, and he was busy early. The Thunder outshot the Northstars 17-12 in the opening frame.

Daniel Berno scored on the powerplay with 5:45 in the period, but Kieran Webster equalised for the Thunder before the period ended.

The game tightened up in the second period, with no scoring. Francis Drolet gave the Northstars the lead again with 12:26 left in the third. But Ben Breault restored parity on the powerplay to take the game to overtime.

Three-on-three hockey couldn’t decide matters, and the contest went to a shootout. After Alexander Yuill and Francis Drolet scored in the first four rounds for the Northstars, and Jeremiah Addison scored twice for the hosts, four scoreless rounds followed.

Finally, in the ninth round, Addison scored again, and Leo Bertein poked away Yuill’s attempt to take the shootout victory. The win opened up a 15 point lead between the third-placed Thunder and fourth-placed Mustangs. The Thunder trail the Bears in second by seven points with two games in hand.

It’s the beginning of June, and barring a miracle, the Hellyer playoff participants are set.