MELBOURNE, Australia – The Sydney Bears paid a visit to Melbourne this weekend to take on the Ice and left with an empty feeling as the Ice took the front end of the double-header, 6-4.
A scoreless first period led to a three-goal outburst by the Ice to take a 3-1 lead to the 
final frame.
In the third, both teams scored three times to turn a tight affair into a thrilling a contest.
Each club scored once on the power play with the Bears going 1-for-2 and the Ice scoring on their only man-advantage opportunity.
The Ice had a 5-2 lead late in the third period before the Bears rallied for two goals but an empty-netter with time winding down finished off the rally and gave the Melbourne side a victory.
On Sunday, the teams hooked up again and the Bears broke out to a 2-0 lead before the Ice rallied to tie with the first period ending 3-3.
The match was a back and forth affair with the Bears tying it up early in the third at 5-5 but Sebastian Ottosson picked up the game-winner late in the frame to give the Ice a 6-5 win.
The Ice improved to 9-1-0-2-0 on the season, good for first place in the AIHL ladder. Melbourne has played the fewest games in the league this season and have two games in hand on the Canberra Brave with a three-point cushion.
The Bears dropped to 4-9-0-2-3 on the season and sit in sixth place in the AIHL standings.
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