This past Sunday was a bittersweet day for the Jersey Hitmen Empire team. On the same day they were eliminated from the playoff race, they officially qualified for the Jr. B National Championships.

Their playoff run began Friday night with a contest against the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins, a team with whom they have had trouble with. Tim Clifton got Jersey on the board first as he worked his way past three Pittsburgh players before netting an unassisted power play goal at 10:29 of the first. However, Pittsburgh’s leading scorer, Ben Hanus, would draw the Penguins even at 16:15 of the first. Patrick Shafer found Hanus between two Hitmen defenders, springing Hanus for a breakaway. Hanus would fire a snap shot over the glove of Matt Braun to tie the game at one. The only scoring in the second period would put the Hitmen back on top. After and Ali Thomas shot caromed wide of the net Connor Leen found an open Luke Zocco on the point. Zocco fired a one timer on net the beat Pittsburgh goaltender Eric Ekberg to the blocker side to give the Hitmen a one goal lead.

However, the third period would belong to the Penguins power play. Hanus would knot the game at two with his second of the day, beating Matt Braun between the arm and body just 2:36 into the period. Jarret Ruchka would put the Penguins on top for good with just under four minutes remaining when he put home his power play tally at 16:44 of the period. Despite solid late game pressure and a 45-28 advantage in shots the Hitmen could not muster any more offense and dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision.

Saturday morning the Hitmen squared off against the host, Philadelphia Revolution. The Hitmen would once again get on the board first courtesy of an unassisted goal by Jason Healey at 4:24 of the first. However, Dan Echeverri would tie the game with a remarkable effort at 15:09 of the period. After being hit in the foot with a shot, Echeverri managed to knock the puck out of the air, while falling to beat Kyle Shapiro.

The second period saw an opportunistic Hitmen team grab a three goal lead heading into the final frame. Jersey took the lead for good 4:21 into the period when Tim Clifton scored his second goal of the weekend. With Nick Lotito and David Ramos going to work in the corner Clifton found a seem in the Revolution defense. Ramos would win a puck battle and hit Clifton with a pass that he one-touched over the shoulder of Philadelphia goaltender Mike Hanson. From there Connor Leen would take over the period scoring his first of two when he froze Hanson with a fake pass before firing one through the five-hole at 6:42 of the period. Leen would strike again, this time shorthanded, at 14:10. After blocking a point shot near Philly’s offensive blueline Leen turned on the jets, flying past two Revolution defensemen and beating Hanson with a nice move to the forehand side.

The third period saw the Revolution put on a strong push to try and save their playoff lives. John Connolly would score the first goal of the period just under nine minutes into play. At 13:02 of the third RJ Burns would score the eventual game winner on a spectacular rush with linemates Ali Thomas and Connor Leen picking up the assists. Desperate and on a four minute power play Philly would pull Hanson in favor of the extra attacker with nearly four minutes left to play. The nearly paid off as the Revolution netted two power play goals to pull within one. From there the Hitmen refused to relinquish the lead and clamped down to seal the 5-4 victory on the back of Kyle Shapiro’s spectacular game.

With their victory over the Revolution the Hitmen advanced to play Saturday night. This contest would pit them against a tough Brewster Bulldogs team for the third time in a week and once again feature two of the three Western Conference All-Star goalies in Matt Braun and Jordan Gluck. After splitting the season series at two this game promised to be a battle from start to finish. However, with New Jersey State playoff games taking place the Hitmen were extremely shorthanded, skating with only 11 players. This disadvantage did not stand in the way of the boys in blue.

The game between these two rivals would start just as the last two had with Brewster getting on the board first. Chris Doyle would score just 1:32 into play to give the Bulldogs the lead. Shortly after, former Bulldog, Jason Healey would find the back of the net on the power play when he put a wrist shot past the glove side of Jordan Gluck at 4:13 of the period to draw the Hitmen even. Doyle would strike again at the 16:14 mark to put Brewster back on top heading into the locker room. Despite dominating play and onslaught of shots in the second period the Hitmen could not find the back of the net and headed into the third period still trailing 2-1.

As he had done all year long Connor Leen stepped up big for the Hitmen tying the game just 48 seconds into the third off an Ali Thomas feed. Jersey would begin to wear down a little as the period went on, but held on long enough to send the game into overtime. The overtime period was filled with desperation as both teams knew that for the loser, their playoff run would come to an end. As the clock continued to tick away it was the Hitmen who would extend their season. With Ali Thomas and Connor Leen aggressive on the forecheck Leen would emerge from the corner with the puck and find sniper Tim Clifton just inside the faceoff dot to the right of the Brewster goal. As Leen and Thomas began to drive the net Clifton riffled a snap shot over Gluck’s blocker, off the crossbar and in the give the Hitmen their third OT win of the season at 6:04 of the extra session.

On Sunday morning the Hitmen would receive some reinforcements in personnel, but with injuries and more high school conflicts would still faceoff against Maksymum as a shorthanded group. It took more than half a period for either team to get on the board, but Maksymum would strike first when Riley Bourbonnais beat Matt Braun through the five-hole at 11:45 of the first. However a determined Jersey squad would strike back on the power play at 14:03. Planted firmly in front the net RJ Burns would deflect Nick Maniaci’s point shot through the legs of Maksymum goaltender Terrence Shafer. Ali Thomas would also pick up an assist on the goal. Late in the period Thomas would strike for a goal of his own. After taking a feed from Connor Leen in the slot, Thomas unleashed a snap shot over Shafer’s glove to give the Hitmen a 2-1 lead.

The second period would be a battle of special teams and chippy play. Maksymum drew the game even with a power play goal off the stick of Nick Berst 6:24 into the frame, putting momentum in Maksymum’s corner. Just before the midway point of the period Hitmen goaltender Matt Braun would be run over as he held his ground to make a save on Bourbonnais. Braun seemed shaken on the play but chose to remain in the game. On the ensuing faceoff Nic Brickley would put Maksymum ahead when he beat Matt Braun on a point shot. Braun removed himself from the game giving way to Saturday morning’s hero, Kyle Shapiro. Without a chance to warm up Shapiro was beat to the blocker side just over a minute later by JT Stenglein. From there Shapiro would be rock solid in net. Trailing 4-2 and once again on the penalty kill Andrew Canitano gave the Hitmen a shot of life when he corralled Kenny Pilanski’s clearing attempt and headed in a breakaway. Canitano would fake a shot before sliding the puck through the legs of Shafer to pull Jersey within one. Just less than five minutes later, with the Hitmen enjoying some power play time of their own, Connor Leen found Tim Clifton driving the net. Clifton’s first shot was thwarted by Shafer, but his second effort shot beat the Maksymum goaltender over the shoulder to bring the Hitmen back to even. After a hard fought, but unproductive third period the two squads headed for overtime, the Hitmen for the second time in as many games.

Despite applying early pressure Jersey was unable to find a crack in Shafer. As the period grew longer and the Hitmen grew more fatigued the tide began to turn in favor of Maksymum. Despite several heroic saves by Shapiro JT Stenglein would net the decisive goal 16:16 into the period to seal the victory.

Despite seeing their playoff run come to an end the news was not all bad for the Hitmen this past Sunday. By virtue of their regular season placement the Hitmen, in their inaugural season, secured a place in the 2010 Jr. B National Championships to be held at the New England Sports Center March 26-30^th. Check back next week for schedule details.