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PLAYOFF PRVIEW

By Joe Sindoni - Broadcaster/Writer, 03/16/23, 3:00PM EDT

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HUNTSMEN TAKE ON 87S IN DIVISON FINALS

The inaugural season excitement continues as the Huntsmen picked up their first ever playoff win, and playoff series win last weekend against the New Jersey Renegades. Now they face off against the New Jersey 87s in the Mid Atlantic Division Finals and the winner heads to Providence, Rhode Island for the EHL Frozen Finals. As an organizations the 87s have had success and they won the EHL Title last year, and the EHL Premier Title in 2021.

Providence now hangs in the balance; here’s a look at the matchup ahead.

Regular Season Record

NJ 87s  30-8-4 64pts    1st Mid Atlantic Division and 4th overall

PAH     25-14-3 53pts 2nd Mid Atlantic Division and 7th overall

Season Series  8 Meetings

3-2 OT PAH / 7-3 NJ / 7-3 PAH / 4-3 PAH / 8-3 NJ / 6-1 NJ / 4-0 NJ / 4-2 NJ

Total Goals in Series 37-23 NJ

Totals for Season        NJ GF 197 / GA 100        PAH GF 164 / GA 131

Top Scorers for New Jersey vs PA

Ivan Borisov    5 goals 4 assists

Logan Berhje   1 goal 7 assists

Nick Hunter    8 assists

Tyler Chafe      3 goals 4 assists

Vasily Vasin     3 goals 4 assists

New Jersey Top Scorers Regular Season

 Ivan Borisov  22 goals 21 assists        43pts  

Nik Shoats       20 goals 17 assists      37pts

Logan Berhje   14 goals 21 assists      35pts

Ethan Paligo    8 goals 26 assists        34pts

Tyler Chafe      13 goals 20 assists      33pts

New Jersey Top Playoff Scorers

Zach Gruber    3 goals 3 assists

Tyler Branish   4 assists

Robert Calice  2 goals 1 assist

Dylan Cornatzer 1 goal 2 assists

Pennsylvania Top Playoff Scorers

Max Finkeldey 5 goals 1 assist

Ryan Arendes 3 goals 1 assist

Reese Gilmore 3 assists

In the 1st round, the New Jersey 87s swept the Philadelphia Little Flyers. New Jersey won by scores of 6-1, and 5-0. Despite going down 1-0 just 5 minutes into Game 1, the 87s would then score 11 unanswered goals to end the series. Goaltender Jason LoRicco started both games for NJ in the 1st round. One of the impressive things about the New Jersey 87s is their scoring depth. In the regular season, the 87s had 7 players with 30 points or more, and 14 players with 20 points or more.

While the 87s dominated their 1st round matchup, the Huntsmen had to battle not only the Renegades, but also the experience of playoff hockey for the first time. The Huntsmen also had the challenge of recruiting new players near the end of the season and that is not easy.   Defensemen Mario Smith and Mason Henne have bolstered the blue line while Zachary Slaybaugh has become an energy player. One thing that is notable about the 1st round, 15 different skaters picked up a point against the Renegades.

Next stop, the Mid Atlantic Division Finals.

Schedule

Game 1           Friday March 17th       Huntsmen at NJ 87s    7:30pm

Game 2            Saturday March 18th   NJ 87s at Huntsmen    8:35pm

** Game 3       Sunday March 19th      Huntsmen at NJ87s     4:30pm

By Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

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