The Fergus Devils closed out the regular season with another split, securing fifth place in the process and a first-round date with the Erin Shamrocks in the league playoffs.
Stayner drilled the Devils by a 10-1 score last week in Stayner, while Fergus bounced back a night later and scored a 4-3 overtime win over Schomberg to finish the regular season with a 13-26-3 record.
At Stayner, nothing went right for the Devils - the Siskins held a 3-0 lead after the first period and added four goals to that total by the end of two periods. Daniel Verta scored a shorthanded goal for Fergus at the midway point of the third period to break up Gary Walser's shutout bid. Reid Zorzi and Branden Bauer assisted on the goal.
With both Dave Bartolomucci and Brendan Moore out hurt, call-up goalie Stephen Glazier took the loss in goal for the Devils.
A night later against the Cougars, Fergus took to the ice knowing they had already secured fifth place in the standings by virtue of having more wins than the Midland Flyers. They traded goals with the visitors in the opening frame, as the game was tied 2-2 after the first period.
A scoreless second period followed, and Cole Giles put the Devils in front just pats the halfway point of the third period. Fergus couldn't hold on to the lead for long, as the Cougars tied the score just over a minute later.
Rob Turner stepped up in overtime for Fergus, scoring the winning goal after being set up by Jesse Booker and Garrett Williams.
Jesse Kuenzig and Mitch Gelfand scored other goals for the Devils, while Ben Piluk, Dylan Cunningham, Turner, Kuenzig and Verta added assists. Bartolomucci stopped 27 of 30 shots for the win.
With the regular season now behind them, the Devils turn their attention to the Shamrocks and the post-season tournament. Devils head coach Eddy Gaffney felt the win over Schomberg gave the Devils a good chance to put the finishing touches on their new system, which he's hoping will generate positive results against Erin in their opening-round series.
"It's an aggressive system that keeps the puck pinned off at the sides of the rink, and we kept Schomberg pinned in their end for long stretches - I don't think the score really reflects how well we controlled that game," he said. "I think we've got some good momentum going into the playoffs, and some of these guys have a sense of revenge after they got swept out by Erin in last year's playoffs."
Gaffney feels the Devils are a better team line for line than Erin is, and the one big difference going in might very well be the goaltending. Moore and Bartolomucci have both been hurting, leaving Glazier to fend for himself. Gaffney said Bartolomucci will get the nod for the post-season, and the team expects to have Moore ready to go as well.
"If you look at last year's playoffs, I think Erin got more production from their blueline and that turned out to be the difference in the series," he said. "I think our top line can shut theirs down, so we'll just have to find ways to get enough production from other sources to win."
Game 1 of the series was played Tuesday, Feb. 9, in Erin, while Game 2 is slated to be played in Fergus on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 8:30 p.m. Game 3 is in Erin on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m., with Game 4 coming back to Fergus on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. The remainder of the schedule can be found at www.centrewellington.com.