On paper, this looks to be an extremely lopsided affair.
At 9-1, the Aces have the league’s best offense, best defense and best duo in net. Aside from one hiccup against the Rockhoppers and a few slow starts, Brooklyn has been as perfect as you can be up to this point.
In order for the Hudson Valley Bears to be able to hold their own tonight, they’ll have to do a pair of things.
1- Shutdown the Aces BMT Line of James Brannigan, Kyle McCollaugh and C.J. Tozzo.- So far this season, Brooklyn has scored 61 goals. The Aces top line has been responsible for 30 of those tallies, so obviously keeping them off the scoresheet, something no team has really been able to do this season, will prove to be pivotal.
What is even scarier is the Aces offensive firepower as a team. Minus the production of their top line, Brooklyn would still have a better overall offense than Danbury [25 goals on the season] and would be extremely comparable to Hudson Valley [31 goals] and New Jersey [39 goals]. Simply put, the Aces have three lines that can give you nightmares. Nevertheless, the top line is the one that has to be stopped if Hudson Valley wants to stay in the game.
2- Make the Aces defense work hard- With Andrew Scampoli off playing in Holland, the Aces will be leaning heavily on the trio of Doug Hoffman, Rob Miller and Nick Grove. Ian McLaughlin, a converted forward has proved to be a solid d-man, but hasn’t been given enough ice-time to prove how solid he can be in the crunch. Mike Richards was activated off IR a week or so ago, but it’s unknown how much of a factor he’ll be. If Hudson Valley can make the Aces defensemen work hard in both ends and play physical, they may be able to get a few second chance opportunities that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
If they can get that done, this is going to be a great game to watch. If not, expect another six-goal affair from Brooklyn that results in a ton of shots and even more penalty minutes.
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