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Game Preview: Final Regular Season Weekend

February 16, 2017
11:58 AM EST

By Doug Mark

The final weekend of the regular season is upon us, and the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team find themselves in what can only be described as the best possible spot for them heading in.  The team will travel to Foxboro, MA one final time this weekend for a three game showcase, where they’ll face the Junior Bruins on Friday at 3:40pm, the South Shore Kings on Saturday at 11:10am, and Islanders HC at 1:40 pm on Sunday.  Heading into this weekend, thanks to a spectacular weekend sweep this past weekend up in Connecticut, the Flyers find themselves two points ahead of the PAL Jr. Islanders in sole possession of 8th Place in the Premier Division, and holding the right to host a home play-in game next week.  Needless to say, there will be plenty of scoreboard watching for the team this weekend.

 

This past weekend in Connecticut, the Flyers put together two stellar performances against the Jr. Rangers.  On Saturday, the Flyers were able to win a seesaw affair with the Rangers by a final of 5-4.  Sam Nardicchio notched two goals for the Flyers in the second period to send the game into the third period tied a 2-2.  Rich Brusco and Connor Tierney would score in the third period, but the Rangers would tally just 31 seconds after the Tierney goal to tie the game at 4-4.  Then with just over two minutes remaining, Reid Bibb would deposit the game winning goal, with an assist for Nardicchio, and the Flyers would come away victorious.  In goal, Matt Beck would face 58 shots and turn away 54 for a spectacular performance. 

 

On Sunday, Nardicchio would once again put together a great offensive outing, scoring the first two goals of the game for the Flyers.  The game would again be tied 2-2 going into the third period, when Brusco would score with less than two minutes left to give the Flyers the lead.  Vadim Vasjonkin would score an empty netter to ice the game with 24 seconds make it a 4-2 final score.  Beck would turn away 32 shots in the game, earning his second win of the weekend in goal.  Overall, a fantastic weekend for the team in this end of season push to host one final home game. 

 

With the wins, the Flyers now have 36 points in the standings, good for 8th Place.  The PAL Islanders trail behind with 34 points.  The Islanders will also face the Junior Bruins and Islanders HC this weekend, and will finish their season on Sunday against the Springfield Pics.  Wins for the Flyers against either the Junior Bruins or South Shore on Friday or Saturday, and losses for PAL in their first two games of the weekend would guarantee the Flyers 8th Place and the home play-in game, before the puck even drops on Sunday.  As we stated, there will be a lot of scoreboard watching going on all weekend long.  With the Flyers in the midst of a streak that has seen them win six of their last eight games, including going 7-5 in the calendar year of 2017, this weekend is the most important of the season for the team.

 

For the Flyers opponents this weekend, the Junior Bruins come in at 31-10-0 with 62 points on the year, tied with the Jersey Hitmen for 2nd in the division.  South Shore brings an 18-20-3 record with 39 points in 7th Place, just three points ahead of the Flyers.  And Islanders HC comes in at #1 in the division at 35-5-1 with 71 points on the year, with the Premier Division regular season title already locked up, as they are nine points ahead of Boston and Jersey.

 

On the year against their opponents, the Flyers are 0-4 against the Junior Bruins, one of which was an overtime loss against Boston back in early January.  Against South Shore the Flyers have fared well this season, going 2-2 so far.  The Flyers are 0-3 against Islanders HC this year.

 

Players to Watch:

 

We’ve talked about it on “Shutey Says” before, but the line of Nardicchio-Vasjonkin-Bibb seems almost unstoppable in this last month of play.  Be sure to keep an eye on them to hopefully continue their hot streak of finding the back of the net to produce for the Flyers this weekend.  Also important to note is the play of Rich Brusco, who moved up to forward from defense back during the weekend on Long Island two weeks ago.  Since the move, Brusco has earned five points in his last three games, including the game winner this past Sunday. 

 

For the Junior Bruins, watch the goal, as Bruins goaltender Nick Sanford just this week committed to play for the University of Notre Dame.  Look to see if it gives him a boost in goal, which the Flyers will hopefully want to solve if it does.

 

For South Shore, Max Suave leads the team in points with 32.  The Massachusetts native has a number of multi-point games this season, so the Flyers defense are going to need to find a way to keep him off the scoresheet.

 

For the Islanders HC, it’s pretty simple…watch the whole team.  The Islanders locked up the Premier Division regular season title a few weeks ago with their impressive play so far this season, and are in the midst of an 18 game winning streak.  That is the sign of a team firing on all cylinders.  If this “play-in game” race comes down to Sunday for the Flyers, they need to do everything they can to dish the Islanders what could potentially be their first loss in 20 games, and also their first loss to Philadelphia all season.  It would be quite dramatic to not only end a long winning streak, but also capture 8th Place in the same game.  Let’s hope it’s all settled before these two teams faceoff Sunday afternoon.