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
Play by Play Announcer
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