Corridor Cross Checks: Iowa Heartlanders, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders hit the stretch

CEDAR RAPIDS - It’s the stretch.

The hockey clubs representing The Corridor are both in position for playoff spots as the regular season nears its conclusion.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have seven games remaining as they seek inclusion to the United States Hockey League postseason. The Iowa Heartlanders have eight games left to go as they look to make it into the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Let’s take a closer look at what is going on and what will be going on with both teams.

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

It’s been a rough stretch for the Riders, who have lost five of their last six games. That includes a pair of 3-1 losses last week: at Madison and at home to Waterloo.

Heath Nelson scored C.R.’s goal against Madison, his 16th this season. Amine Hajibi picked up his 16th this season in the loss to Waterloo.

Hajibi leads the RoughRiders in scoring with 48 points (16 goals, 32 assists) in 51 games. Daniel Astapovich, who recently had his first USHL hat trick, has a team-best 20 goals in 55 games.

Cedar Rapids has a record of 23-32-2-3 for 51 standings points, placing it in sixth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. The top six teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs.

The Riders are two points behind fifth-place Green Bay and nine up on seventh-place Chicago. Their magic number (combination of C.R. wins and Chicago losses) is 10.

They host the United States National Team Development Program’s U-17 team for games Friday and Saturday (7:05 p.m. opening faceoff both nights). It’s a three-in-three road weekend next weekend for the Riders: at Des Moines, Sioux City and Omaha, in that order.

Then it’s the home finale Friday, April 11, against Green Bay and the regular-season finale the following night at Dubuque. The USHL’s playoff format sees the top two teams in each conference receiving first-round byes, with the third and fourth-place teams hosting a best-of-3 series against the fifth and sixth-place teams, respectively.

The rest of the playoffs are best-of-5 series, with each team getting a chance to host at least one game.

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Iowa Heartlanders

The Heartlanders wrapped up a three-game home weekend against Fort Wayne with a pair of huge wins: 3-1 this past Saturday night and 2-1 Sunday afternoon in an 11-player shootout.

Those victories stopped a six-game losing streak. Iowa had lost eight of nine games as well.

Fort Wayne won Friday night’s game, 4-1.

The Heartlanders have a magic number of six to clinch a spot in the ECHL postseason. They are 33-21-6-4 for 76 standings points, good for third place in the Central Division.

Toledo leads the way with 91 points, with Fort Wayne second at 80. Bloomington and Indy are tied for fourth place with 62 points each, with Kalamazoo right behind them with 61.

The top four teams in each division qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs.

It’s a much-needed week of rest for Iowa, with only one game on tap. That comes Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Wichita at Xtream Arena.

Of the Heartlanders’ final eight regular-season games, seven of them are at home, another massive advantage. That’d be Wichita for one, Norfolk for three next weekend and Cincinnati for three the following weekend, including the home finale April 12.

The regular season concludes Sunday, April 13, at Kalamazoo. A best-of-7 first-round playoff series against Fort Wayne appears to be a distinct possibility for Iowa.

Yuki Miura leads the Heartlanders in scoring with 49 points (21 goals, 18 assists) in 62 games. He also has a plus-minus rating of plus-20.

Goaltenders William Rousseau and Kyle McClellan have identical goals against averages of 2.60, believe it or not.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com