In the 1st Round of the EHL Playoffs the JRFlyers took on the Hartford Jr Wolfpack. During the regular Season the JRFlyers won 3-4 contests. It was the fourth year in a row that the JRFlyers faced the Wolfpack in the 1st round. In the previous three playoff meetings the JRFlyers were the lower seed and had to take the road trip.

Friday

The JRFlyers had two power play chances and put up 26 shots to the Wolfpack 7 but neither team got on the board in the 1st period. In the 2nd period the JRFlyers headed to another power play. While setting up in the offensive zone Kneedler sent the puck to Hinderliter. From the point he fired a shot that hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net. Luke Benitez was in front and while falling to the ice flipped the puck to the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Wolfpack were still looking for goal as time was of the essence in the 3rd period. The JRFlyers continued to hold strong defensively. After a timeout the Wolfpack sent (G) Storr to the bench for the extra attacker.  The JRFlyers were able to hold off the pressure and cleared the zone and both teams went for a change. When the Wolfpack went to breakout to start another rush, they turned the puck over. Forcing the turnover was Kubara, he skated in and put the puck in the empty net sealing a 2-0 win for the JRFlyers. Mac Vail didn’t face too many shots but stopped a few quality chances as he picked up a 22 save shutout.

“We played really well and our defense was sound. We had so many shots in that game and just couldn’t put them to the back of the net. Obviously we’d like to have more goals, but in the end we got what we needed to get the win.” Tommy Dougherty.

Saturday

 The start of this game was much different than the night before.  A shot from the point and a power goal sent by (G) Vail put the Wolfpack up 2-0 just eight minutes into the game. JRFlyers were looking to start the offensive rush with a stretch pass. Hinderliter sent a pass to Kneedler in neutral zone. At the Wolfpack blue line Kneedler dropped a pass to Taylor; he skated to the doorstep and tucked a shot by (G) Storr making it 2-1. The JRFlyers came to life and started to pick up their play. The puck was trapped in a scrum right behind the Wolfpack net. Digging it out was Andrew Bean and with a wrap around chance he tied the game 2-2. Early in the 2nd period the Wolfpack responded as a shot was redirected and it went by (G) Vail to reclaim the lead 3-2 and it was the only goal in the period. Just two minutes into the 3rd Hinderliter sent a long pass connecting with Drew Platt. He lost it for a moment but then took a shot from a sharp angle that went by (G) Storr to tie the game 3-3. Just after the midway point of the period the JRFlyers had an offensive zone faceoff. Manning won the draw to Cohen who passed the puck to the point. Butryn received the puck and fired the shot wide. It had a strong bounce off the back wall and Manning was there for the rebound giving the JRFlyers their first lead of the game 4-3. The Wolfpack answered with multiple chances and again had the extra attacker out. The defense and Vail shut them down as the JRFlyers finally got over the hump that was the Wolfpack to advance to the Quarterfinals.

“We have to be sure to recognize in the next round that teams are desperate, and will be trying the best they can especially when they face elimination like the Wolfpack were. We were down 2-0 but it wasn’t too big of a concern for us, we've been down before and have come back. We stayed calm. It’s awesome to see this team keep battling. We didn’t have the ideal start but it was good to battle back and come away with a big win.” Dougherty

“It still feels good to keep the win streak alive, even though it’s a little different now. It was a great series for us. We protected a lead in game one, game two we fought our way back. No one ever quit or got down on each other on the bench. It was a great team win especially for all the veterans on the team.” Josh Hinderliter

“It feels really feels good to get these wins. It was a little personally this time around, and I didn’t want us to be sent home because of them again. We just kept battling even though we were down a couple times. I'm really proud of everybody for sticking with it and not cracking under pressure.” Chris Butryn

“The team that you saw on the ice for game two reflects the whole season. Never worried about anything, staying calm and they kept plugging away until they got their opportunities. Once we took the lead it was over.” Coach Domish

The dragon was finally slayed and now the JRFlyers are headed for the Quarter Finals. Now, let’s shift to the coming matchup. The JRFlyers will be hosting the East Coast Wizards in the best of three games series. The Wizards are coming off a tough series with the Valley Jr. Warriors. The Wizards upset the Warriors taking them to Game 3 as the Wizards came in as the seven seed while the Warriors were the two seed. Game 1 was an overtime victory for the Wizards and Cameron Stewart was the hero. The Warriors responded with a 4-1 victory in Game 2 tying the series. In Game 3 the Wizards were led by goal scorers Namon, Wiswell, and Hildebrand. Combine that with a strong performance by goaltender Hunter Chaisson and the East Coast Wizards moved on to the next round.  Well, to recap the series between the JRFlyers and the Wizards you have to go all the way back to the first weekend of the Regular Season. The first two games for the JRFlyers 2016-2017 season was against the Wizards. In the first meeting the JRFlyers won handedly 5-2 behind three point games by Luke Benitez, Hayden Taylor, and Ludvig Nilsson. The following day was Showcase Format (2-25 minute periods) and the JRFlyers won 3-0. As you already know, a lot has changed since the beginning of the season so those games don’t mean too much in the end. Mentioned before, the Wizards were the underdogs as they defeated the Warriors in three games. It’s time to go through our 2nd Edition of “By the Numbers” as we dive into the matchup this weekend.

Regular Season Record Philadelphia JRFlyers 36-8-4

                                       East Coast Wizards 21-20-7

Top Scorers (Including Playoffs) JRFlyers - Nilsson/Dougherty 43pts, Manning/Papayoanou 40  pts, Taylor 38pts, Hinderliter 33pts

                                                   Wizards - Wiswell 51pts, Stewart 39pts, Winter 37pts,                  Lloyd 36pts, Locatelli 32pts, Lemanski 31pts

Goaltending: JRFlyers - Mac Vail 21-8-1, GAA 1.99, SV% .917, SO 4

                       Wizards - Hunter Chaisson 14-16-1, GAA 2.33, SV% .922, SO 1

                                      Aidan Ethier 9-10, GAA 3.24, SV% .892,  

Playoffs:  JRFlyers swept #6 seed Wolfpack in 1st Round: W 2-0 / W 4-3

                Wizards defeated #2 Seed Warriors in 1st Round: OTW 3-2 / L 4-1 / W 3-2

Playoff Team Leaders: JRFlyers: Hinderliter 3Asst, Kneedler 2Asst

                                     Wizards: Wiswell 2Goals, Hildebrand 2Goals, Fuller 2Asst, Pavlini 2Asst

Game Schedule

(All Games At Ice Line)

Game 1 Friday 3/17               7pm

Game 2 Saturday 3/18         8:30pm

Game 3 Sunday 3/19             7:45pm (If Necessary)

By: Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

Play By Play Announcer