The Newcastle Rescue Northstars' seven-game win streak was ended at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Sunday, May 19 with the Melbourne Mustangs delivering the side's first defeat of the 2019 Australian Ice Hockey League season, 3-2.

The loss followed on from a 4-1 win against Melbourne Ice at HISS on Saturday, May 18.

Northstars coach John F Kennedy Jr said Sunday's clash with Mustangs was "competitive".

It was a 0-0 game up until the opening minute of the second period when the Mustangs scored. Another from the Mustangs, with no answer from the Northstars, saw the visitors lead 0-2 going into the final period.

The Northstars rallied in the third. Czech-born Northstars import Ondrej Smach scored to halve Melbourne's lead. However, they were quick to fire back to make it a 3-1 game. A final goal from the Northstars, coming from import Sammy Banga, wrapped up the night.

Smach played his final home game in Newcastle on Sunday. He will travel with the team to Melbourne on May 25-26. Afterwards, he will fly home to pick up his commitments with professional teams in Europe.

The Northstars travel to Victoria to face Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday, May 25 and Melbourne Ice on May, 26.

The Northstars are set to be without Dominik Gabaj for up to two months after the Slovakian import broke his thumb on the weekend.

Northstars officials are awaiting further scans this week to survey the extent of the damage.

Gabaj went down early in the opening period of Saturday's 4-1 win over the Melbourne Ice. He missed the next day's 3-2 loss, the first of Newcastle's otherwise perfect 2019 campaign, to the Melbourne Mustangs.

"It's a shame because he's been playing so well," Northstars coach John Kennedy Jr told the Newcastle Herald.

"The X-rays have come back as a broken thumb so we'll have a closer look at some more scans this week before trying to work on getting 100 percent.

"In the meantime we will try and fill his space for the next six-to-eight weeks."

From his efforts on the ice across the weekend, Northstars import Sammy Banga has taken the lead in the league's scoring ladder with 23 points. Gabaj is third.