Excuse My Grogginess

You're going to have to cut me some slack today because I normally don't make it habit to see the other side of midnight. If you noticed the 10:30pm time on the Denver Pioneers article yesterday, that's because I was up late to watch the only AIHL team that I'll cheer for in the Melbourne Mustangs. While the game had a 2pm start in the Victoria capital, it had an 11pm start time on Saturday night for those of us in the middle of North America. I was writing yesterday's article as I waited for the Mustangs to take the ice for the first time in 2024, and the end result was a lot of fun for the home side as they began their Goodall Cup defence!

The Mustangs hosted the 1-2-0 Brisbane Lightning on Sunday after the Lightning fell to the Melbourne Ice by a 5-2 score on Saturday. Former Bisons head coach Mike Sirant's new team was looking to bounce back by taking down the defending champions, but they'd need a big effort from the squad as they played their second game in as many nights. Former Bisons defender Mitchell Dyck was making a big impact in his AIHL rookie campaign with a strong start statistically, but the Lightning needed a sixty-minute effort from the entire roster.

The champs got on the board early when Chris Lawrence struck at 4:59 to record the Mustangs' first goal of the season, and this one might have been a little sweeter for the 37 year-old because it's the first goal he's scored as a dad! Congratulations, Chris, but I'm going to warn everyone that we're not done with Lawrence just yet. As it stood, the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission in a game where mistakes were leading to chances.

The second period saw the teams alternate in terms of who scored. Melbourne's Thomas Flack made it 2-0 at the 5:11 mark before Brisbane's Anthony Barnes scored his first of the season on the power-play to cut the deficit in half at 8:57. The Mustangs would restore the two-goal cushion with Chris Lawrence's second goal of the game - this one while shorthanded - at 10:10, but the Lightning would respond with a Mitchell Dyck's third goal of the season at 16:32 to make it 3-2. Lawrence, though, was en fuego in this game as he buried his hat trick goal at 19:29 to make it 4-2 for the Mustangs after 40 minutes!

Before we get to the third period, I have a question: is throwing one's hat onto the ice surface following a hat trick being scored just a North American thing in ice hockey? I didn't see one hat hit the ice for Lawrence's hatty on early Sunday morning, so maybe they don't do that in Australia? If someone has answers, let me know!

Melbourne might have salted this one away early as Dean Klomp added a power-play goal just 63 seconds into the final frame, and Matt Knox made it a 6-2 game at 1:48 when he scored his first AIHL goal in his career. Knox would add his second AIHL goal at 10:56 to make it a 7-2 game, but the Lightning's Sam Hodic chipped away with his power-play goal at 12:08 to make it 7-3. Anthony Barnes added his second goal of the game with 3:19 to play, but it was too little and too late as the Mustangs opened their Goodall Cup defence with a 7-4 win over the Brisbane Lightning! Sebastian Woodlands picked up the win with 11 saves on 15 shots while Nicholas Novysedlak suffered the loss after stopped 32 of 39 shots he faced.

Was this the kind of game that will make coaches happy? No, but there are enough things that the Mustangs did right that they should be able to build off this win heading into next Saturday's clash with the Perth Thunder (5pm Aussie time/2am CT). Getting a big game out of Lawrence, Scott Timmins, Dean Klomp, and Ty Wishart is a good sign for the top players skating for Melbourne this season as the foursome combined for four goals and seven assists. The Mustangs will need that production if they hope to repeat as champions.

Brisbane will return home after taking two beatings from the Melbourne AIHL squads. Being outscored 12-4 in the two games played at the O'Brien Icehouse means there's lots of video for the coaches to review, but it's never good starting the season 1-3-0 while allowing five-or-more goals in all four games.

It was a good first game for the Melbourne Mustangs skating as AIHL champions for the first time since 2015, and we'll see if they can send the fans home in Melbourne with back-to-back wins next weekend when they host the 3-1-0 Perth Thunder in what should be an intense, uptempo game between two solid teams! Will I be awake for it? It's not looking good, but I'll have to see if I can sneak in a nap on Friday or something to make that work!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!