The JRFlyers were back in action after the holiday break and they started the second half of the season with a home and home series with division rival the New Jersey Rockets.

Play was a little choppy to start the game as you would expect, but then the hits began to show with few scoring opportunities here and there. The first goal of the game was a crazy bounce that went in the JRFlyers favor. Butryn cleared the puck from his defensive zone and the puck was on its way to being an icing call. Forward Tyler Glennon was racing a defender into the corner to try and cancel the call which he did. The Rockets goaltender Huxen saw Glennon winning the race so he left the net to play the puck away from him, but the puck had a different agenda. It hit the Zamboni door and bounced out in front and Glennon tapped the puck into the empty net giving the JRFlyers the 1-0 with just a couple minutes left in the 1st period. In the 2nd period after the midway point the Rockets were able to answer. The puck was chipped in from the blue line and the defense got crossed up making it a two on none breakaway and with tic tac toe passing (G) Murch didn't have a chance and the Rockets tied the game 1-1. The JRFlyers were still looking for a goal in the 3rd period after failing on two big opportunities on the power play. Huxen made a few outstanding saves on shots that for sure looked like they were headed for the back of the net to keep the Rockets in the game. Late in the period the JRFlyers had an offensive zone draw to the left of Huxen. Dougherty won the face off but the puck went to a Rockets defenseman, he whiffed on the clear and Kubara controlled it and fired a shot on Huxen. He got 90% of the puck but it squeaked through and rolled in the crease and went into the back of the net just before the posts’ came off the moorings and it gave the JRFlyers a 2-1 lead. After that goal the Rockets were buzzing and the pressure was on the JRFlyers defense. The Rockets were getting multiple chances and (G) Murch made a couple of big glove saves to keep them at bay. The Rockets pulled Huxen for the extra skater, and came close to scoring after a few tipped shots in front. The JRFlyers finally got the puck out of the zone where the Rockets defense had it at their own blue line. A pass came across but it wasn’t crisp enough and Nilsson intercepted the puck and moved into the offensive zone. He was tripped upon entering but sent a shot while falling to the ice and it slid into the open net to give the JRFlyers a 3-1 lead. The empty netter sealed the victory and Murch had a great game with 32 saves.

The JRFlyers started off Sunday’s game the best way possible. Butryn sent a pass to Taylor from his own blue line. Taylor skated into the offensive zone and ripped a shot by (G) Brickman for the 1-0 lead 1:31 into the game. The lead didn't last long as the Rockets were able to beat (G) Murch on the doorstep about five minutes later to tie the game 1-1. The 2nd period got a little testy which is nothing new when these teams face off and both teams exchanged power play opportunities but there was no scoring. In the 3rd period just a few minutes in the JRFlyers defense cleared the zone with a long pass but it was deflected. It landed on the stick of Cohen who sprung Kubara and he skated in and took a shot that hit Brickman’s glove and it popped over him and the puck trickled into the net giving the JRFlyers a 2-1 lead. Again it was the defense and (G) Cody Murch coming up big in the closing minutes as the JRFlyers hung on for the victory 2-1 and got a big four points from a division rival.

One player who was a big factor is the two wins was Casey Kubara. In both games against the Rockets he had the game winning goals and he gave us his thoughts:  “The boys were really working hard out there and we had some great goaltending by Cody (Murch), he really stepped up and kept us in the game. I’ve been playing on the line with Doc (Tom Dougherty) and Marko (Cohen) and we kind of just see each other out there and I feel comfortable out there with them, as for me I got a little lucky. Both of my goals trickled in, but I’ve been shooting the puck a little more and get things to happen, and it worked out for us.” Kubara

It wasn’t the prettiest wins of the season, but after it was all said and done, sweeping the weekend against a division rival was big for the team.

“They are definitely one of the most physical teams we play all year and they came out tough. They took away our time and space for the majority of both games. We weathered the storm, but we struggled a little bit as coming back from break everyone is a little rusty. We were able to handle it pretty well and got two gig wins out of it.” Chris Butryn

“It was a big four points to get for us. Everyone has really matured throughout the year and we are now playing a more complete game The Rockets came in waves but we were pretty steady throughout the whole game and that was the key to holding onto the victory.” Josh Hinderliter

“It was a good start to the new year for us. Both games weren’t the cleanest games we've played. I thought the flow wasn’t quite there but it was nice getting a home win and then travelling to their place and coming away with another win.” Tommy Dougherty

This weekend is filled with great matchups. The JRFlyers will be on the road in New Hampshire for the final Showcase of the season to face the Vermont Lumberjacks (13-12-6), Valley Jr Warriors (15-9-3), and Northern Cyclones (17-12-3). The JRFlyers defeated the Lumberjacks 1-0 in Overtime just before the break, they won in a shootout against the Warriors on Dec. 10th and they lost 2-1 in overtime when they played the Cyclones back in October.

“This Showcase is huge for us because right now we’re on a roll and we want to keep that momentum going through the rest of the year. We want to show everyone up in the Northern Conference that we’re here and we are coming for them.” Butryn

“This is a huge weekend for us. We need to have good special teams play, and stay out of the box. We need to play our systems and stick with them. If we play our systems then most teams won’t be able to hang with us.” Hinderliter

Showcase Schedule

Sunday vs Lumberjacks 5pm

Monday vs Valley Jr Warriors 10:20am

Tuesday vs Northern Cyclones 12:20pm

By Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

Play-By-Play Announcer