Embrun, Ontario – Tonight the Casselman Vikings take on the Embrun Panthers in game two of their best of seven quarter final series. The Vikings lead the series 1-0 after a dominate 8-0 win on Sunday night in game one.

Scheduled Games:

Casselman Vikings  Embrun Panthers: Tue, Mar 06 8:30 PM - Embrun Arena

Embrun Panthers Casselman Vikings: Thu, Mar 08 7:30 PM - Brisson

Casselman Vikings  Embrun Panthers   Fri, Mar 09   8:00 PM- Embrun Arena

Embrun Panthers   Casselman Vikings  Sun, Mar 11 7:30 PM - Brisson

Casselman Vikings  Embrun Panthers   Tue, Mar 13 8:30 PM - Embrun Arena

Embrun Panthers   Casselman Vikings  Thu, Mar 15 7:30 PM – Brisson

The Embrun Panthers come into the series having won their wild card series, 2-1 against the Ottawa West Golden Knights after they were trailing the series to start 1-0. The Vikings coming into the series with a much needed rest and a goal to continue their championship streak.

Season Series:

Embrum Panthers 7, Casselman Vikings 4: September 21st

Embrun Panthers 5, Casselman Vikings 4: October 20th

Casselman Vikings 3, Embrun Panthers 2: December 7th

Embrun Panthers 7, Casselman Vikings 5: February 2nd

The Embrun Panthers won the season series 3-1, outscoring the Vikings 21GF/16GA in their four matchups. The only Casselman win was a 3-2 victory on December 7th. Embrun scored five plus goals three times. Based off the season series, if the Panthers are going to win, they’ll have to score like they did against them in the season series. The Vikings will have to also find a way to score five or more like they did in game one.

What to Watch:

For Casselman, they’ll have to neutralize the Embrun Panthers offensive attack and lemit odd man rushes. Embrun does a great job of creating space and creating 3-on-1’s or 2-on-1’s – so the Vikings are going to have to stop that and continue to play good defense.

Marc Brosseau is a guy they need to keep an eye on because he has some of the best hands in the league and always finds ways to create opportunities by deking a man out or using his speed. He also scored 31 goals and 60 points this season so he could be a factor. Two other forward’s that I’m going spotlight are Andrew Burke and Jeremy Barrie. They might not be the flashiest players but they know how to contribute to their squad during the playoffs.

On the backend, Darrell Campbell’s big body defenseman are going to be key in this series. If the Embrun staff decides to shorten up the bench, they’ll be toast because Casselman can roll all four lines. As for goaltending, it is unsure if they will start Gratton or Sabourin.  

For Embrun, it’s obvious that they’ll have to watch out for Sebastien Plante, Ethan Wensink and Brendan Doherty. The Vikings know how to spread out the depth and can have anyone score or contribute in some way on any line. They are that deep of a team and have an excellent power-play. I think both teams size does play into each other’s rink but I’d expect Casselman to use their home barn to their advantage with all their fans howling away and cheering them on.

The Vikings penalty kill and power-play is also deadly as well. They always find a way to block shots and don’t allow you to get into the offensive zone easily. The power-play is the best in the league as they always set up the backdoor one timer. These are a few things the Panthers will have to watch out for.

The Verdict:

The Panthers must say out of the box and can’t shorten up the bench late in the game or else they’ll be doomed. The Vikings will have to play physical and send the puck in deep if they want to win. Goaltending will also be key.

By: Dante De Caria, Communications Manager.