By DJ Mark

Coming off a thrilling 2-1 come from behind win on Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team will travel to Andover, Massachusetts this weekend for a three game showcase at Gallant Arena at Merrimack College, the home of the Islanders HC.  The Flyers will play the Islanders on Thursday night at 5:50pm, the Okanagan Eagles on Friday at 11:10am and the South Shore Kings at 9:20am on Saturday.  All games can be viewed via the showcase feed on HockeyTV.

The Flyers split this past weekend’s home series with Connecticut at a game apiece.  On Saturday, the Rangers dealt the Flyers a heartbreaking come from behind loss.  Selbern Narby scored shorthanded to tie the game 2-2 around eight minutes into the period.  Then at the six minute mark, Jordan Rose scored what would be the game winning goal for the Rangers.

But the Flyers would dish the same fate back to Connecticut on Sunday, as Brendan Ferguson would score just 1:47 into the third period.  Then with a little more than six minutes to go, Rich Brusco shot a puck in on goal from the point that would be tipped by Mateo Capriotti to find its way into the net to give the Flyers the 2-1 lead.  Solid defense and strong goaltending from Adam Mercer would give the Flyers the win, their first on home ice this season.

The Flyers take a 5-12-2 record into this weekend’s showcase.  Islanders HC comes in at 15-3-1, good for first place in the Premier Division.  South Shore sits at fourth place in the division, with an 11-8-1 record.  Okanagan sits behind the Flyers in the standings, coming in with a 4-17 record.

The Flyers head into this weekend having faced all three opponents already this season.  They are currently 0-3 against the Islanders HC, dropping games on September 24th and 25th and just last Monday, October 31st.  All three games have been a part of showcase weekends.  They have faced Okanagan just once so far this season, being on the losing side of a shootout in a 4-3 final back on October 8th.  They have also faced South Shore just once this season, coming out with a 4-1 win against the Kings back on October 7th, the first game of their Hitmen Showcase.

Players to Watch:

For the Flyers, watch to see if Adam Mercer gets one or multiple starts this weekend after his standout performance in goal on Sunday.  In fact, watch the crease in general, as Matt Beck also turned in a great performance on Saturday as well, despite being saddled with the loss.  Also watch the Altman brothers who had a field day against South Shore the last time the two teams met, combining for three of the Flyers four goals in that game.

For the Islanders, Matt Thomson is currently the team leader in points with 31 on the year.  He has 15 goals alone so far.  He clearly is a threat up front for the Islanders.  The Flyers are going to want to cover him in this matchup if they want to finally get the better of the Isles.

For South Shore, Army commit John Laurito leads the team with 22 points.  Defenseman Austin Rook leads the league in defensive scoring 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points.  And goaltender Ben Churchfield boasts one of the top GAA in the league with 1.98. 

For Okanagan, Max Mona leads the team in points with 12, tied with Paul Cerda.  But the real wild card for the Eagles this season has been their goaltending.  They currently have four rostered goaltenders with all four getting a piece of the action this year in net.  Watch the crease for Okanagan this weekend to see who gets the start.  It’s anyone’s guess.