The New Jersey 87's went 2-1 between its EHL and Premier teams over this past week. The EHL squad lost its inaugural game on Saturday against the Connecticut RoughRiders but won its home opener against Team Maryland, while the Premier team defeated the Philadelphia Revolution on Sunday, 5-4 in overtime. 

Here's a breakdown of the last week for each team:

EHL squad loses inaugural game vs. RoughRiders, but defeats Team Maryland in home opener

Last Saturday marked the first 87's game as part of the Eastern Hockey League as they faced the Connecticut RoughRiders. Despite a strong performance from New Jersey, the RoughRiders walked away with a 4-1 victory.

The 87's out shot Connecticut 9-0 in the first half of the opening period, but the RoughRiders scored the lone goal at 14:47. After a scoreless second period, the RoughRiders doubled its lead in the opening minute.

Jack Lane scored the team's first-ever EHL goal on the power play at 4:50, as the 87's spent the remainder of the period looking for the tying goal. Connecticut fended off the comeback effort and iced the game with a pair of empty-netters. Head coach Adam Houli said the loss was certainly not due to a lack of effort.

"It's a tough league, and you have to put pucks in the net to win, and we couldn't do it," he said. "I thought their offense came off our mistakes, and our offense came off us creating our offense, so I was happy in that regard but we have to get back to work this week."

The 87's managed to do just that, as they bounced back with a 5-0 win over Team Maryland in its home opener Wednesday afternoon in Middletown. 

Dalton Jerzak pitched a 27-save shutout while Tim Debord, Jack Keryluk, Zach Tarantino, Geoff LaMorre and Cam Lindsay each scored a goal. They were given credit for 70 shots on goal, as Team Maryland's goaltender Anthony Dul Tufo finished the day with 65 saves.

While Houli was happy to get the win, he also said the offense could do a better job of converting its chances.

"I think that comes on me a little bit as the offensive coach, that we have to bury pucks. We can't be generating this many chances and only potting six goals, so we'll look at, watch video and see where we can get better, but if we can open the floodgates, we'll be a tough team to play against," he said.

EHLP defeats Revolution 5-4 on Brad Heuer's OT goal

Brad Heuer is no stranger to overtime heroics, scoring an OT winner against the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers last season. He did it again on Sunday as the Premier team defeated the Philadelphia Revolution 5-4 at Middletown Sports Complex.

Tom Swartout opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 6:31 of the first period. In the second, the Satkowski brothers each scored a goal, with Cameron burying a one-timer on the power play and Luke scoring on a penalty shot. Their goals, however, were sandwiched by two Revolution goals, making it 3-2 at the end of two periods.

Payton Jones gave the 87's a two-goal lead early in the third period, but the Revolution roared back with two goals of their own to knot the score. During the three-on-three session, Heuer went for a quick wraparound as his teammates made a line change. The puck slid under Revolution goaltender Zack Janis, propelling the Premier team to a 3-0-0 record.

"I just kind of went around the net and threw it on goal. It was kind of lucky, but I'll take it," Heuer said. 

Jeremy Connor stopped 42 of the 46 shots he faced, posting his second win of the season in as many starts. After the game, Houli spoke about the Premier team's ability to react positively to adversity.

"They certainly respond better than I would think. We got on them pretty hard and they responded," he said. "Losing a little momentum here and battling back to win in overtime, it may not be good for long term development, but for the short term, it's good to see that kind of resiliency."

Weekend ahead

The EHL and Premier teams will both go up against the Boston Jr. Rangers on Saturday and Sunday at Middletown Sports Complex. On Saturday, the Premier team will play first at 4:40 p.m., followed by the EHL team at 7:50.

Sunday, the Premier team will start at 11:20 a.m. while the EHL team will follow at 2:30 p.m. All four games will be streamed on hockeytv.com.

Photo credit: Lou Di Paolo