MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – The Metro Jets and MJDP teams kicked off the USPHL Winter Showcase with one win and two setbacks Friday at the New England Sports Center.
The Jets defeated the South Shore Kings 5-1 and then fell 2-1 to the Lake Tahoe Lakers, while the MJDP was shut out 2-0 by the Northern Cyclones.
In the Jets’ victory that saw the team score five unanswered goals, Ryan Messing and Alex Schaumburger (pictured front) each had a goal and an assist to go along with two assists from Dakota Kott and Nick Ceccarini and single goals from Herman Ahokas, Andreas Fleutot and Alex Bedenko.
“Good start to the weekend,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “We responded well to the unfortunate-bounce goal we gave up in the first period on the PK. Our forwards played with pace and put a lot of pressure on their ‘D,’ which caused a lot of turnovers and scoring chances.
“No time to pat ourselves on the back. In these showcase formats, we have quick turnarounds, so we have to refocus and prepare for the next game.”
In goal, Daniel Miscavish finished with 29 saves as the Jets outshot the Kings 44-30.
Later on in the loss to Lake Tahoe, Lovell said “the first half of the game was completely unacceptable.”
“We were flat and not ready to play and in these shorter showcase-format games, you can’t afford that,” he said. “The clock is not your friend when you get behind and run into a team that commits to blocking shots and their goalie gets hot. We took way too many penalties against a team that has a really good PP and the league’s leading scorer.
“If there’s any positive to take from this, it’s that we’re making these mistakes now and, hopefully, will learn from so that it doesn’t happen come playoff time.”
Schaumburger tallied the Jets’ lone goal and Will Augustine made 29 saves between the pipes.
Lake Tahoe outshot Metro 31-25 in the game.
For the MJDP (pictured below), Freddy Soderberg stopped 13 shots in goal as the MJDP outshot the Cyclones 21-15.
“We’re in a slump right now, and it’s frustrating as a coach to keep telling your players that they’re playing well and making good decisions, but we’re not finding success on the scoreboard,” Lovell said. “You can’t win without scoring goals and we’re all a little ‘snakebit’ right now.”
On Saturday, the MJDP plays two games, at 9 a.m. against the Hershey Cubs and then at 6:20 against the New York Aviators. The Jets skate with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights at 4 p.m.
All games at the showcase are available on HockeyTV.com.
