AIHL Playoffs: Ice Dogs and Brave survive tense preliminary finals

James Lane

The AIHL playoffs got underway with exactly the sort of drama you’d expect from sudden-death hockey. Both preliminary finals were thrilling affairs, with the Canberra Brave finally finding a way past the Sydney Bears after trailing three times, while the Sydney Ice Dogs survived a Perth fightback to book a meeting with the league-leading Newcastle Northstars. The reward is a pair of fascinating semi-finals on Saturday: Sydney against the minor premiers, and Canberra against the second-placed Melbourne Mustangs.

Canberra Brave 4 – 3 Sydney Bears

The Bears will be wondering how they managed to lose this one. Sydney scored first through Kevin Sadovski, but Canberra quickly responded, leaving the sides locked at 1–1 after the opening period.

The second followed almost exactly the same script. The Bears struck first, the Brave answered, and the teams headed into the final break tied again, this time at 2–2.

Then came the third. Once again, Sydney opened the scoring. Once again, Canberra came back. At 3–3, however, the pattern finally changed. Justin Maylan put the Brave ahead for the first time all night, and this time there was no response from the Bears. Canberra had spent the entire game chasing and finally found the one lead that mattered, securing a 4–3 victory and a place in Saturday’s semi-final.

Perth Thunder 4 – 7 Sydney Ice Dogs

The Ice Dogs’ victory over Perth was a little more comfortable on the scoreboard, but the Thunder made them sweat right to the end. The opening period was an entertaining back-and-forth affair. Sydney scored first to lead 1–0, Perth responded to go 2–1 ahead, and the Ice Dogs then levelled the game at 2–2 by the first break.

The second period proved decisive. Dmitri Kuleshov scored twice inside three minutes to open the frame in spectacular fashion, and Sydney went on to take a 5–2 advantage into the break after a perfect 3–0 period.

But Perth weren’t finished. Felix Plouffe answered with two goals in just two minutes at the beginning of the third, dragging the Thunder back to within one at 4–5. Suddenly, the momentum had completely shifted. Sydney steadied themselves, however, adding two more goals to close out the 7–4 win.

The semi-finals

Newcastle Northstars vs Sydney Ice Dogs

The regular-season champions now face the Ice Dogs, who arrive after putting seven past Perth in their preliminary final.

Melbourne Mustangs vs Canberra Brave

The second-placed Mustangs take on a Canberra side that has already shown throughout the latter stages of the season that they are more than capable of beating the competition’s best.