AIHL Wrap: Northstars hit 20 goals in Brisbane as race tightens behind them

James Lane

Week 6 delivered one of the most bizarre double-headers of the AIHL season so far. Newcastle and Brisbane somehow produced both the most entertaining game of the round and one of the most lopsided, all within 24 hours. Elsewhere, Perth’s offence continued to terrorise Melbourne Ice, the Bears kept climbing, and the Rhinos bounced back after a split weekend.

Sydney Ice Dogs 7 – 3 Sydney Bears

Friday night’s Sydney derby was effectively over before the Bears could settle into it.

The Ice Dogs stormed out to a 3–0 opening period lead and never relinquished control, securing an important four-goal win that keeps them firmly in the finals conversation.

Central Coast Rhinos 7 – 3 Adelaide Adrenaline

Saturday opened with another high-scoring Rhinos performance.

Central Coast led 4–2 after a frantic first period before gradually pulling away. Raphael Bastille was outstanding, finishing with four goals and an assist in one of the individual performances of the season so far.

Newcastle Northstars 10 – 7 Brisbane Lightning

Newcastle and Brisbane combined for 17 goals in a game that swung wildly throughout the night. The Northstars edged a crazy opening period 4–3 before Brisbane stayed in touch deep into the contest.

But once the Lightning committed to desperate all-out attack late, Newcastle punished them repeatedly, blowing the game open with a 5–1 third period.

Evgenii Skachkov was virtually unstoppable, piling up five goals and three assists in a stunning offensive display.

Perth Thunder 8 – 3 Melbourne Ice

Perth continued their push near the top of the ladder with a comfortable win over the Ice.

Felix Plouffe produced a goal and three assists, while Yu Hikosaka added two goals and two assists as the Thunder attack again proved too deep and too quick.

Sydney Ice Dogs 3 – 2 Canberra Brave

The Ice Dogs completed another important win in a very different fashion later on Saturday.

All three Sydney goals came in the opening period, and from there it became an exercise in survival as Canberra pushed hard but couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

Perth Thunder 10 – 3 Melbourne Ice

Sunday’s rematch somehow got even uglier for Melbourne.

The game was still level at 1–1 after the first period before Perth completely overwhelmed the Ice with a devastating 4–0 second period that broke the contest apart.

Canberra Brave 5 – 3 Central Coast Rhinos

Canberra produced one of the surprise results of the round by taking down the Rhinos.

After Central Coast’s strong Saturday showing, the Brave responded with one of their most complete efforts of the season to keep themselves within touching distance of the middle pack.

Newcastle Northstars 10 – 0 Brisbane Lightning

And then came the complete opposite of Saturday night.

After the teams combined for 17 goals less than a day earlier, Newcastle shut Brisbane out entirely in a ruthless 10–0 demolition.

Evgenii Skachkov somehow followed up his eight-point game with another monster effort, finishing with four goals and three assists as the Northstars piled on the damage from start to finish.

Sydney Bears 7 – 3 Adelaide Adrenaline

The Bears rounded out the weekend by overpowering Adelaide in the later stages.

Sydney gradually wore the Adrenaline down across the night, continuing Adelaide’s difficult season. The Adrenaline remain without a regulation-time win through six weeks.

Standings

Newcastle are on top with 26 points after another dominant weekend, while the Rhinos sit second on 20 despite their Sunday loss. Perth sit just behind on 19 and continue to boast arguably the league’s most dangerous attack.

The Bears have surged into fourth on 18, narrowly ahead of the Ice Dogs on 17, while the Mustangs have slipped slightly off the pace on 14.

Canberra move to 9 points after their upset win over Central Coast, Melbourne Ice remain on 8, Brisbane on 7, and Adelaide stay anchored to the bottom on 3.