Admirals playoff series with the Flags extended

Amherstburg forward Allan Djordjevic (right) moves the puck against the Flags during last Friday’s game.

The Provincial Junior Hockey League (Jr. C) playoff series between the Amherstburg Admirals and the Mooretown Flags has shaped up to be a good one.

The two West Stobbs Division teams split the games this past weekend with Mooretown forcing Game 6 with a win last Saturday night. Heading into Tuesday night’s sixth game at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg, played after this issue of the RTT went to press, the Admirals held a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series.

After winning a close 3-2 decision at home Friday, the Admirals came up on the short end of a 5-1 Mooretown victory the next night.

“It’s a tough arena to get a win. They’ve got it figured out. The Dupuis brothers (Jace and Dylan) know how to move the puck. They (Flags) aren’t going to roll over,” said Amherstburg head coach Zack Gervais after Saturday’s game in Mooretown.

After a scoreless first period, Admirals’ sniper Stefan Djordjevic cruised into the slot and scored what would be the only goal for the visitors to get past Mooretown goalie John Chartrand.

It was all Mooretown from then on as Casey Schouten scored off the draw shorthanded deep in the Amherstburg zone.

“We have to go back to our rink and defend home ice,” said Gervais.

Facing elimination, the Flags scored twice on the powerplay while the Admirals were 0-for-4 with the man advantage including a four-minute extra attacker in the second.

Despite having veteran centre Brett Jones out of Saturday’s game due to an injury he suffered the night before, and regular rearguard Freddie McCroy sitting out his second of a two-game suspension, the Admirals hung tough against a team that likes to play physical.

Gervais admitted after Saturday night’s game in Mooretown that his charges might not have a lot of experience when it comes to eliminating an opponent in the post-season.

“We’ve got about 15 guys in the room who don’t have the experience of getting over that hump and it took us a while to get to our game.”

Friday night in Amherstburg, captain Drew Booker connected and Stefan Djordjevic scored twice on the powerplay. Both were set up by Cale Marontate and rookie Liam Thiessen.

“At the end of the day, we finished nine points behind them (Mooretown) in the standings. We beat them once in regulation time this year,” noted Gervais.

The game at the Libro Centre last Friday night saw rookie goalie Landon Dimitroff turn away 25 shots for his first junior playoff win.

SLAPSHOTS — The winner of this series will take on Essex who eliminated Walpole Island in four straight. Lakeshore, who eliminated Dresden, will face former Admirals’ standout Stefan Jacobs and the Blenheim Blades who knocked off Wheatley.

Admirals playoff series with the Flags extended

By Fred Groves