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NHLGamers, We’ve reached the end of the road as far as the NHLGamer ECL 10 regular season broadcasts go. With the playoffs looming large, we cap things off with two matchups that will decide how the playoff tree shakes out. Dynamic duo @Tougie24 and @Cyn will be casting the action tonight. SJ Gaming vs Roots RECORD 12-14-2 vs 13-10-5 TOP SCORER Jussi @JaKurrii Koivuniemi (22+21=43) vs Timi @Rimpe Rimpeläinen (21+19=40) GOALTENDER Janne @Janne Hietala Hietala (12 W, 77,27 SV%, 2,86 GAA, 2 SO) vs Joonas @swagx88 Kuossari (13W, 82,39 SV%, 2,23 GAA, 2 SO) First up, we have SJ Gaming taking on Roots Gaming. For SJ, a “perfect evening” with four points is needed to have a shot at sneaking in to the playoffs. The eight seed is still up for grabs, but a lot will need to go SJ’s way for them to qualify – starting with taking four points off of one of the best defensive teams in the game. At the same time, SJ is feeling the heat from teams like Ghetto Firebirds and KOVA Esports chasing them down to avoid the dreaded Elite Relegation Series. One win would secure the Elite contract for SJ, two would give them a shot at the playoffs. Zero wins? Well, that could mean playing for their lives in a couple of weeks. High stakes indeed for captain @Terodeeand his men. On the other side of the equation, Roots has secured a spot in the playoffs but the games against SJ will decide what seed they end up with. As things currently stand, they could end up 8th, 7th or 6th depending on various results. Either way, they’ll have to take on a powerhouse in the form of Linköping HC, HAVU Gaming or JYP Jyvaskyla in the playoffs. But if any team stacks up well against the top three, it’s the “big green team machine” that captain @Tanski87has built. All that remains is deciding which opponent will be theirs. BRAYCE Phantoms vs Vesa Pompa HC RECORD 16-10-2 vs 12-14-2 TOP SCORER Simon @PlaymakerSJ Junker (17+27+44) vs Henrik @Eken45jr Eklund (23+13=36) GOALTENDER Patrick @RPH_31 Braun (16 W, 75,54 SV%, 2,19 GAA, 5 SO) vs Philip @Pippo Johansson (10 W, 79,29 SV%, 2,19 GAA, 2 SO) For our second matchup, we’ll see Germany vs. Sweden as BRAYCE Phantoms play host to Vesa Pompa HC. In this battle between national champions, BRAYCE has already secured a playoff spot, with Vesa making a late-season push to qualify. BRAYCE can finish at worst 7th and at best 4th. Finishing 4th or 5th would mean avoiding the top three teams, which should see an inspired BRAYCE roster come storming out of the gates. For Vesa, it is do or die. Just like SJ, they need four points to have a shot at the playoffs. And just like SJ, they need at least one win to secure their contract in Elite for ECL 11. Good thing then that the “new-look” Vesa is one of the hottest teams in the league for the past two weeks. Will that be enough to complete a near-miraculous run to the playoffs? Find out tonight at NHLGamer Twitch. Tune in for all the action starting tonight at 20:00 CEST over at www.twitch.tv/nhlgamer, alternatively ISTV, and Ruutu for our Finnish viewers.

NHLGamers, As discussed in last weeks recap, the battle for the top-seed was and is still running hot as the big trio JYP (50pts), HAVU Gaming (49 pts) and Linkoping HC (47 pts with two games in hand) are all within striking distance for that top spot. Based on point average, Linkoping is in the lead and the reigning champions still have matchups against Lulea Hockey and Gotham Knights to go this week - an expected four win run but you never know with these games. As you might expect, these three powerhouses have managed to pull away from the rest of the pack, but the battle for the rest of the playoff spots is still running fierce. Most notably, Unlucky Boys HC has been on a tear as of late, losing only single games against SJ Gaming and Checkmate in their last 12 bouts. The only team in the middle of the pack that has a notable amount of games in hand on others are hREDS, who are in 4th place with a mere 24 games played. At the moment of writing, 33 points would be required to secure a playoff spot and Roots together with BRAYCE Phantoms are close to that limit. In immediate proximity of the playoff line, we have an absolute free-for-all. Five teams in total all have four games left to go, and are within a 3-point range of each other. At the bottom of the standings, Vesa Pompa and Gotham Knights still technically have their playoff hopes intact although these teams would have to win a majority of their remaining games with some help from teams ahead in the standings. Vesa Pompa has shown some good form as of late an are still to play Unlucky Boys HC, Almost Famous and BRAYCE Phantoms which means that a cinderella story is not entirely out of the question, albeit unlikely. Almost Famous is in dead last with not much to cheer about, the club have solidified their position in no man's land for a few seasons now, but complete full-team defensive lapses have plagued their season leading to multiple vicious beatings despite putting forth solid efforts in singular matches. PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK Last week, we were close with 46, but now we've got a new record with 52 total goals in the name of Paul @PleeMaker Arontie. With four games still to go in the season, Plee has set the bar extremely high and rising for future superstars and scoring machines alike. FORWARD OF THE WEEK Antti @tbnantti Kuittinen, JYP Jyvaskyla JYP had a power week with a total of four scheduled matchups in which the team won 6/8 games. Centerman tbnantti played all of those games and picked up 22 points in the process. Having added a few last night, he is at 4th in scoring overall right now. DEFENDER OF THE WEEK Aaro @xDoumi Ruuhinen, JYP Jyvaskyla Doumi is has been one of the up and coming defensemen for a long time already, but this is the season he seals the deal and puts his name right up there with the best in the game. Eight games last week yielded the young defenseman 14 points. GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK Joonas @Jombb- Koivukoski, Gotham Knights Honestly, picking a goalie of the week wasn't easy this time. It would be a safe decision going with anyone stopping pucks for a team in the top three, but Jombb- has been doing a great job for an underdog team like Gotham Knights. Jombb dressed for four games last week in which he kept an average save percentage north of 85% and a GAA of 2.