The Newcastle Northstars maintained its winning momentum in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) with an 8-4 victory over the Central Coast Rhinos at the weekend.

In front of a big home crowd, at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium, the locals – buoyed by a Francis Drolet hat-trick – registered their third triumph on the trot.

Adding extra reason for merriment was the fact Tim Stanger celebrated his birthday with a goal in the last minute of the third period to seal the result.

“We worked hard… and they came out flying,” he said.

“But, we adjusted to it.

“I loved every minute of the match; it was great to get a goal.

“It was one of my best games to date, 100%.”

Newcastle led 2-0 at the end of the first period, with Drolet and Josh Adkins prevailing.

Tanner Butler and Shane Southward extended the Northstars’ advantage, despite Jayden Ryan hitting back for the Central Coast, to 4-1.

In an entertaining final stanza, Drolet bagged a double while Josh Kennedy and Stanger also troubled the scorers.

Two goals to Alexander Wardlaw and another to Robert Malloy gave the Rhinos something to smile about.

“I’m happy with the three points and that’s the goal at the end of the day – winning,” Newcastle head coach Kevin Noble said.

“There were some good things that we cleaned up [tonight] and some elements of our game that looked really good for the most part.

“However, there were also lapses in some detail that were missed… and it wasn’t pretty but it was good enough.

“We have to keep working hard.

“Credit must go to (Rhinos goaltender) Andrew Master, he was great tonight while Charlie Smart was just as good for us.

“Central Coast has added to its line-up, which has helped them, so we can see where there is room for improvement in our game.

“I think we can clean up our D zone.

“We need to be a bit more clinical on our finishing around the net, too.”

As for Drolet, who praised their rivals, he was delighted to snare another hat-trick.

“When I play, I don’t really think about my personal stats,” he said.

“I just really like scoring in front of the home crowd and getting the boys fired up on the bench.

“Plus, I know it helps to get a couple of goals and that lead makes everyone relax… and then we make better plays.

“The Rhinos are definitely getting better, they came out with some new players and they were very strong, making it a close encounter.

“We couldn’t take them lightly and we had to work to maintain pace to stay ahead of them.

“In meant we had to lift for the full 60 minutes and, with a lot of penalties, it makes it tricky.

“There were some moments of the game that just got away from us and it’s all stuff to work on.”

The Northstars next tackle the Brisbane Lightning at Warners Bay on Saturday 27 May from 5pm.

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