Photo Credit: Bri Sotera

The EHL Team was able to get back on track with wins against Philadelphia Hockey Club, and Team Maryland Next was two games on the road against the Philadelphia Little Flyers and the New Jersey Bears. The Premier Team was looking to stay hot with a home and home series vs the New Jersey Renegades.

EHL vs Little Flyers

The Little Flyers got to work right away and scored less than two minutes into the game.  Early in the 2nd period, Hoffman shot the puck from the wall, and Damon Warren redirected the puck into the net tying the game 1-1. Shortly after that, the Huntsmen got into penalty trouble and Philadelphia took the lead with a power play goal. In the 3rd period, the Little Flyers scored quickly again, less than a minute and thirty seconds, and it was 3-1. The Huntsmen emptied the net late in the game, but the Little Flyers scored an empty netter and the Huntsmen lost 4-1.

EHL vs Bears

The Bears started the scoring just over five minutes into the game.  Then the Huntsmen caught fire late in the period. The Huntsmen answered back when they won an offensive zone faceoff and John Manzi scored from the slot tying the game 1-1. Just a couple minutes later, Aidan Hellyer had the nice setup feed to Landon Cole giving the Huntsmen a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later, Ryan Arendes scored on the rebound and just like that, the Huntsmen had a 3-1 lead to end the 1st period. PA scored all three goals in less than five minutes. Late in the 2nd period the Bears got one back making it 3-2. In the 3rd period the Bears completed the comeback. New Jersey scored four goals in the 3rd period and went on to win 6-3.

Premier vs Renegades (Saturday)

There was no scoring in the 1st period, the Huntsmen took two penalties but were able to kill them off. In the 2nd period Tristan Fallon gave the Huntsmen a 1-0 lead. Auge Cisar scored on his own rebound chance extended the lead for PA to 2-0. It was a defensive game and there was no scoring after that, and Jackson Gruttadauria picked up the shutout win making 19 saves.

Premier vs Renegades (Sunday)

Just like the night before, there was no score after the end of the 1st period. In the 2nd period, the Renegades scored the first goal of the game. Shortly after the goal, New Jersey took a penalty and Brock Burrell scored from the slot tying the game 1-1. Just a few minutes later Luca Palachick scored to give the Huntsmen a 2-1 lead. The Renegades would score on the rush in the 3rd period tying the game 2-2. A few minutes after the midway point Nick Smith carried the puck from PA territory and crashed the net to regain the lead 3-2. The Huntsmen would hold on the rest of the way, and Matt Beatty picked up the win with 24 saves.

"They're not a bad team (Renegades) and they play a little bit different hockey than what we are used to," says Brock Burrell. "We've won twelve games in a row but we are still hungry and looking forward to competition. The games at the Showcase in March will be big for us since we are playing some of the top teams, but until then we have to continue to playing the teams in front of us first."

Up Next

            EHL Team

After winning two in a row, the Huntsmen drop the next two and are still looking for consistency. They’ll have an extended layoff before they play the Bears again on the road. The South Division Standings continue to change with each game. The Huntsmen now find themselves in 5th place with 9 games to go. If the season ended today, the Huntsmen would be the road team in the play in game, a one game elimination with the #4 seed hosting. The last place team in the division will not make the playoffs.

South Division Standings  

As of Jan. 31st

NJB  GP 35  21-10-4  46pts

87s  GP 34  19-11-4  42pts

TMD  GP 35  18-14-3  39pts

PLF  GP 35  18-15-2  38pts

*PAH  GP 37  15-19-3  33pts

PHC  GP 36  14-18-4  32pts 

            Premier

The Huntsmen swept the Renegades and have now won 12 games in a row. The Huntsmen are now 2nd in total points with 49, while the Railers lead the league with 58. Every point matters because there’s an “At Large Bid” in the Premier Playoffs. At the end of the second round of the playoffs the three teams that lost will be pooled into a separate set of standings based off their regular season record. Of the three losing teams, the one that has the highest points will earn the At Large Bid and still go to the Frozen Finals in Rhode Island. Pennsylvania will have only one game this weekend as they will host the Renegades again. The Huntsmen will look to extend their win streak to 13 and make it 5 straight against the Renegades.

Mid Atlantic Standings

As of Jan. 31st

*PAH GP 31  24-6-1  49pts

87s GP 31  21-10  42pts

NJR GP 31  12-16-3  27pts

PLF GP 30  10-15-5  25pts

UJT GP 30  6-22-2  14pts

CTC GP 31  5-24-2  12pts    

Schedule

Premier vs Renegades Sunday 2:55pm

EHL Team off till Feb. 10th

By: Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

Play by Play Announcer