The Selkirk Fishermen will look to use home-ice advantage to propel them to victory against the Lundar Falcons in Round 1 of the Capital Region Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Selkirk will host Games 1 and 3 — and a possible Game 5 — of the best-of-five series, starting Tuesday, Feb. 24 at the Selkirk Recreation Complex.
The Fishermen were the better team in the regular season, posting a 17-10-0-1-2 record for 55 points to finish third. Lundar compiled a 5-19-0-3-3 record for 24 points, placing sixth.
Selkirk also held the edge in head-to-head contests, winning three of the five meetings between the two clubs.
The Fishermen enter the series on a two-game win streak after defeating the North Winnipeg Satellites and Arborg Ice Dawgs last week in regular-season play.
On Tuesday, Selkirk earned a 7-2 win over the Satellites on home ice, with the offence taking control in the second period.
After Ashton Schroeder opened the scoring in the first, Selkirk scored five goals past North Winnipeg’s Jordan Armstrong in the middle frame. Schroeder added his second of the game during the period, while Dawson Bergagnini scored twice. Mason Volkart and Gaven Berry had the others.
North Winnipeg spoiled Marcus Sharpe’s shutout bid in the third with a pair of goals, while Ryland Schroeder rounded out the scoring for the Fishermen.
Sharpe finished with 17 saves in the victory, while Armstrong turned aside 38 shots in the loss.
Selkirk then moved to a Friday night matchup against Arborg, where offence was once again the difference in a 7-3 victory at home.
The game remained close through 40 minutes, with the clubs tied 3-3 before the Fishermen erupted for four unanswered goals in the third period to secure the win.
Selkirk’s goals came from seven different players: Ashton Schroeder, Logan Saluk, Bergagnini, Zach Gallinger, Ryan Cromie, Connor Bruyere and Sam Khodayary.
Johnny Enns-Demchuk earned the win with a 32-save performance, while Arborg’s Paxton Moore stopped 27 shots in the loss.
The game concluded Selkirk’s 30-game regular season.
Series schedule:
Game 1 — Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m., Selkirk
Game 2 — Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Lundar
Game 3 — Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m., Selkirk
* Game 4 — Wednesday, March 4, 8 p.m., Lundar
* Game 5 — Friday, March 6, 7:30 p.m., Selkirk
* If necessary
