The first round of the playoffs had the Huntsville Otters facing off against the Midland Flyers for a best of seven series. Six games were played with Huntsville winning the first two and Midland surging back to win the next four to move on to the next round. In the early games, the series was tight with the teams winning by one goal or fighting hard in double overtime for the win.<\/p>\n
After a hard loss in game five in Midland on Tuesday, February 14 that saw the Otters fall 12-3 to the Flyers, they needed a comeback to stay alive in the series. Their chances would be thwarted by heavy penalties throughout game six.<\/p>\n
Midland scored early in the game and then the penalties began – 36 minutes in the first period alone with Otter Matt Smith ejected with a game misconduct.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the game would be just as difficult for the Otters. By the final buzzer, Midland had scored four more goals \u2013 three on powerplays \u2013 to the Otters single to take the game 5-1. But it was the penalties that would tell the tale. A total of 121 penalty minutes were logged, almost four times the average for the previous five games, weighted heavily against the Otters. The Otters received 97 penalty minutes on 27 infractions compared to the Flyers\u2019 24 minutes on 8 infractions which gave Midland the powerplay advantage 15 times compared to just three for the Otters. Five Otters players, including goalie Connor Christanson, had been ejected by the time the game was done.<\/p>\n\n\t\t