The Georgetown Raiders and Leamington Flyers will meet in a first round Ontario Junior Hockey League Playoff Series, the league announced. The Raiders finished the regular season in sixth place in the West Division, while the Flyers finished in third place. The league’s playoff format is as follows, 1st plays 8th, 2nd plays 7th, 3rd plays 6th, and 4th plays 5th. Here is a breakdown of the first round series between the Raiders and Flyers, which begins on Friday, March 8th at 7:10PM in Leamington for Game 1.
In four meetings this season, Georgetown finished with a record of 1-2-1-0 against Leamington. Their most recent meeting was a 6-5 loss in regulation back on February 17th at Alcott Arena. In their four meetings this year, Georgetown scored a total of 11 goals, averaging 2.75 goals per game. Leamington is averaging 3.5 goals per game against the Raiders.
Heading into this game, the Flyers finished the regular season with a 34-14-3-0 record, good for 3rd in the West Division with 76 points. In their last 10 games, the Flyers had a record of 4-4-2-0 and were on an 0-4-2-0 streak to finish out the 23-24 season. Their last appearance was a 3-2 loss at Brantford on March 3rd. At home this season, the Flyers had a record of 16-7-3-0. On the road, the Flyers went 18-7-0-0. Leamington scored 209 goals and let in 139, for a goal differential of +70. This team can score. Regarding special teams, the Flyers finished the season with a 22.94% effective power play, and a 79.87% effective penalty kill. Leading scorer for the Flyers was #8 Cayden Faust (20-43-63) in the regular season.
Georgetown, meanwhile, finished the season with a 30-21-4-0 record, good for 65 points and 6th place in the West Division. In their last 10 games, Georgetown has a 7-3-0-0 record and finished the regular season winning their last two games by a combined score of 11-4. Their last appearance was a 5-3 win over Markham on March 3rd. At home this year, Georgetown maintained a 16-9-2-0 record. On the road, Georgetown ended up with a 14-12-2-0 record in the regular season. Georgetown scored 209 goals and let in 181, leaving GTown with a +19 goal differential. Georgetown’s power play sits at 23.08% currently, while the penalty kill resides at 74.14% effective. Georgetown’s leading scorer during the regular season was #91 Quinn Tavares (30-37-67).
There is no doubt that this is going to be a fantastic and entertaining series. No team had a clear advantage over the other during the regular season. If the February 17th matchup is any indication, things could get wild. Leamington took a 6-1 lead into the third period of that game before Georgetown stormed back to score four unanswered and almost tie the game in the final seconds of the third. Leamington likes to play a structured game with quick transitions through the neutral zone. They can play very structured, chance-limiting defence, as seen in the 4-1 loss Georgetown took earlier in the season. Leamington will try to command and control the play from the beginning of the game, something that Georgetown needs to be aware of. Leamington has strong goaltending, as well. Georgetown’s game of quick turnovers, fast breaks, scoring off the rush, and odd man rushes leading to success will be key to success. In the last meeting on Feb. 17th, Georgetown managed to take complete control of the final period and score at will to bring themselves all the way back into the game. All of the Georgetown goals in the third were scored within 7 minutes of each other. If the Raiders want to win, score and then while Leamington is trying to recover, score again. Sound defensive play is also going to be extremely important to a Raiders series victory. Leamington has a +70 goal differential for a reason. Georgetown needs to be as disciplined as they were in the last few regular season games heading into the post season; the less power play chances they have, the better. Keep the Flyers to the outside and eliminate home plate area chances. GTown had 814 PIMs in the regular season, while Leamington only took 560. If the Raiders can find a way to get under the skin of Leamington and draw penalties, the power play should do damage. In summation, GTown needs to stick to their game and the hallmarks of why they got to the post season.
It is shaping up to be a fantastic Round 1 series agains the Leamington Flyers. Raider Nation, below are our home games for this series:
Game 2 – March 9th at 7:30PM at Alcott Arena
Game 4 – March 16th at 5:30PM at Alcott Arena
Game 6* – March 20th at 7:30PM at Alcott Arena (*If necessary)
Tickets will be $15.00 at the door for each game. Doors will open 30 minutes before puck drop each night. Present your game stamp at Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet to receive 20% off your order after the game! We’ll see you at the Alcott! Go Raiders.
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