AIHL Week 6 Wrap: Klugerman’s Heroics Fuel Northstars Surge as Ice Hold Top Spot

James Lane

Week 6 in the AIHL produced an array of high-scoring fixtures, with the Melbourne Ice maintaining their grip on top spot, while the Newcastle Northstars and Brisbane Lightning climbed up the standings on the back of two dominant wins and some serious firepower.

Klugerman Bags Six as Adelaide's Woes Continue

Newcastle’s Riley Klugerman was in unstoppable form, notching back-to-back hat-tricks in the Northstars’ sweep of the struggling Adelaide Adrenaline. He netted three in Saturday’s 11–3 rout alongside teammate Evgenii Skachkov, who also put away a treble, then backed it up with another three goals in Sunday’s 7–3 victory.

The Northstars climb to fifth on the table with 13 points, leapfrogging Canberra and the Rhinos and closing in on the top four.

Meanwhile, Adelaide continue to languish at the bottom of the table, and their defence remains leaky as ever, conceding another 18 this weekend.

Ice Tighten Grip, Perth Stay Second

At the top, the Melbourne Ice extended their league-leading record with a 9–8 overtime win over second-placed Perth Thunder in an absolute thriller on Saturday. Jamie Bourke stole the spotlight with a hat-trick for the Ice, who needed every one of his goals to outlast the Thunder in a back-and-forth affair. With the win, the Ice move to 22 points from nine wins and two overtime losses, keeping their cushion at the summit.

Perth, for their part, bounced back emphatically on Sunday with a statement 8–0 demolition of the Melbourne Mustangs. It was a clear reminder of the Thunder’s offensive punch and keeps them second on the table with 19 points, despite the heartbreak the night before.

Lightning Go Third After Doubling Rhinos

Meanwhile, Brisbane Lightning had the best return of the round, going two-for-two in their weekend series against the Central Coast Rhinos. Saturday’s 7–5 win was followed by a more clinical 4–2 result on Sunday, lifting the Lightning into third place with 16 points. Brisbane now sit just three points behind Perth with two games in hand, and look like a real dark horse at this stage of the season.

The Rhinos will be ruing missed chances after dropping both home games to the Lightning, despite scoring five on Saturday. They now sit second-last on nine points, with only the winless Adelaide Adrenaline below them.

Mustangs Slip Again

It was a frustrating weekend for the Mustangs, who were idle Saturday and then blown off the ice by the Thunder. Following the shutout loss, they drop to fourth place, and are now looking over their shoulder with the Northstars closing in fast.

The Canberra Brave had the weekend off, but drop one place to sixth as a result of the Northstars’ surge. With a congested mid-table forming, the Brave will be under pressure to make up ground quickly when they return to action.