It will be a busy Saturday night in the MHL with the 2018 playoffs officially in full swing. Three games are on tap, all of which will be the second game of their respective best-of seven series.
At 7PM, the Yarmouth Mariners travel to Truro to take on the Bearcats in their Eastlink South Division Semi-Final Series. The Mariners hold a 1-0 lead in this series following a 2-0 victory at home on Thursday night. Goals by Noah McMullin and Connor Peveril would account for all of the offense for either team in Game 1 while Leif Hertz stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first career MHL playoff shutout. Hertz was also named the game’s first star. Kevin Resop made 28 saves for the Bearcats.
It’s been three days since the South Shore Lumberjacks and Amherst Ramblers kicked off the 2018 MHL postseason. Tonight, the two teams travel to Amherst for the second game of their Eastlink South Division Semi-Final series. The Lumberjacks drew first blood on Wednesday night in Bridgewater. Former Rambler defenseman Matthew Paul scored twice and added a pair of assists to lead South Shore to a 5-2 victory over the Ramblers. Mitchell Arseneau, Mateo Short and Samuel Cyr-Ledoux also tallied for the Lumberjacks while MacKenzie Janes added a solid 39 save performance for the home team. The Ramblers received goals from Brady Griffin-Hefford and Layton Parsons while Joel Goguen made 34 saves between the pipes. The puck drops on Game 2 at 7PM at Amherst Stadium.
The Campbellton Tigers were the lone road team to earn a victory in Game 1 of their series. They’ll be looking to make it a 2-0 series lead tonight at the Campbellton Memorial Civic Center when they take on the Summerside Western Capitals. The Tigers roared ahead to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes in Thursday night’s Game 1 in Summerside on goals by Francis Thibeault, Noah Whebby and Pier-Olivier Michaud. Zach Thususka, who opened the scoring in the game for the Caps early in the first, and Cam Roberts replied for the Western Capitals. Dominik Tmej allowed three goals on ten shots in the Summerside net before being replaced by Alex Bishop, who stopped all 28 shots he faced in relief. Greg Maggio earned the win between the pipes for the Tigers thanks to his 37 save outing. Game time for Game 2 of this Eastlink North Division Semi-Final series is 7:30PM.
In MHL playoff action last night, the Edmundston Blizzard made their playoff debut before a sold out crowd at le Centre Jean-Daigle. They also had to overcome a 3-1 first period deficit before finally prevailing over the Miramichi Timberwolves by a score of 5-4 in Game 1 of their Eastlink North Division Semi-Final series. Logan Johnston led the charge for Edmundston with a two goals, including the game winner, and two assists while Alexandre Jacob chipped in with a goal and two assists. Nolan Alward and Alexandre Bernier also tallied for the Blizzard. Miramichi goals came off the sticks of Colby Tower, who potted two, Riley Scott and Dillon Boucher. Both netminders were busy as Myles Hektor made 38 save for Edmundston while Tanner Sommers stopped 33 shots for the Timberwolves. Game 2 of this series takes place Sunday at 7:30PM at the Miramichi Civic Center.
All games of the 2018 MHL Playoffs are available live and online via www.hockeytv.com.
Will MacLaren – themhl.ca