Menace Analyst – Mikayla Guarasci
Milton Menace 2024 Playoff Preview: Second Round vs Leamington Flyers
After a 4-1 series win over the Burlington Cougars to start the 2024 playoffs, the Milton Menace are set to take on the Leamington Flyers in the West Conference Semifinals.
Milton ended their first-round series with a 3-2 win over Burlington in game five on Sunday. Although they did fall to the Cougars in game four, they lost the game in overtime, meaning the Menace have yet to lose a playoff game in regulation this season. Aidan Puley, Nick Wereha and Connor Driscoll led the way for the Menace offensively, with five points each in the opening round.
The Flyers are coming into round two off a first-round sweep of the Georgetown Raiders. They outscored the Raiders 17-9 in the series. Leamington finished the regular season in third place in the West Conference with 76 points and a 34-14-5-3 record.
Milton and Leamington played each other four times throughout the regular season. They tied the first meeting, Leamington won the second, and Milton won the final two games. Their second meeting was part of the OJHL Governor’s Showcase. They have not played against one another since February 1st. This season’s games were extremely tight, with both teams capitalizing on the opponent’s mistakes. The second-round series will be no different, and it will be critical that the Menace play a full team game against this skilled opponent. In the first round of the playoffs, both Leamington and Milton proved they could win those tight games.
In the second round, Milton will look to improve their playoff power play as, after the first round, they ranked second lowest of all teams in the playoffs. The team scored just one power-play goal in the series. Their penalty kill was fourth of the West Conference playoff teams, allowing just two goals while short-handed in the first five games. Leamington’s power play and penalty kill ranked third in the West Conference. Special teams can make a huge difference in the playoffs, so this improvement is crucial to the Menace’s success in the next round and beyond.
Game one of this round two series comes on Friday as Milton hosts Leamington at the Milton Memorial Arena. Tickets for the Menace’s guaranteed home games are on sale now. The Menace want to see you at the rink throughout the series to support them in their quest for the Buckland Cup. The games in the series can be streamed on FloHockey. Stay tuned for game-day pre-game reports for each game of round two.
Full Series Game Schedule:
Game 1: Fri. March 22 at 7:30 p.m. – Leamington at Milton
Game 2: Sun. March 24 at 5:10 p.m. – Milton at Leamington
Game 3: Tues. March 26 at 7:00 p.m. – Leamington at Milton
Game 4: Thurs. March 28, 7:10 p.m. – Milton at Leamington
Game 5: Sat. March 30, 6:30 p.m. – Leamington at Milton*
Game 6: Mon. April 1, 7:10 p.m. – Milton at Leamington*
Game 7: Wed. April 3, 7:00 p.m. – Leamington at Milton*
* if necessary
