By Doug Mark

In a season fraught with all kinds of ins and outs for the Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team, this Saturday’s showdown with the PAL Jr. Islanders is going to be the most important game of the season, hands down.  The two teams will meet at the Rinx in Hauppauge, NY, on Saturday for a 5:20pm puck drop.  And the stakes couldn’t be any higher in this tilt.

Coming into this game, the Flyers are just two points behind the Islanders for 8th place in the Premier Division, and the right to host a home play-in game at the end of the season.  The Flyers are 15-20-6 with 30 points, while the Isles are 15-22-2 with 32 points.  A win in Saturday’s game would tie the Flyers with the Isles for the eighth seed.  With just six games left to go in the season after Saturday, included a final home game against the Jersey Hitmen next Wednesday, to tie PAL with just six games left would be huge.

That weekday matchup with the Hitmen will be huge as well, especially if the Flyers can manage a win in Hauppauge on Saturday.  This past weekend against the Hitmen, the Flyers were able to split the weekend series in North Jersey one game apiece.  The Flyers fell in Saturday’s game by a final of 4-1, but were able to take Sunday’s matchup in overtime 2-1.  Carter Dwyer would the Flyers on the board early in the first period of Sunday’s game.  The Hitmen would tie the game in the 2nd, and that’s where it would stay through 60 minutes of regulation time.  In overtime, with less than 30 seconds remaining, Tristan Ramage was able to cut off a pass at the red line, and he would take the puck in the zone himself and beat Hitmen goaltender Tyler Harmon high on the short side to win the game for the Flyers.  While the Flyers surrendered a point to the Hitmen, the earned the very important second point in the game, able to position themselves just one regulation win behind the Islanders going into Saturday’s game.

The win against the Hitmen was crucial for the team, as the Hitmen come into town next Wednesday for a weekday matinee game, the final home game of the season for the Flyers.  A win on Saturday against the Islanders, and a win next week against Jersey would give the Flyers a two point upper hand on the Islanders.  With five games remaining after Wednesday, including a two game weekend in Connecticut against the Jr Rangers, every point is crucial for this Flyers team to help them stay home for a play-in game.

Players to Watch:

We are not going to put our finger on any one player for the Flyers.  It’s the whole team we think you should keep an eye on in Saturday’s game.  Whether or not the team knows their situation in the standings, they definitely understand how important every game is the rest of the way.  Watch to see how the team as a unit performs on Saturday.

For the Islanders, Josh Haskin continues to lead the team in points with 34 on the year.  Without a doubt watch him on the front end, and hope the Flyers can find a way to shut him down and keep him off the scoresheet.