P.A. Northern Bears take on Battlefords Sharks in quarterfinal SFMAAAHL matchup

The Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs are now underway and the second-place Prince Albert Northern Bears are facing the seventh seed Battlefords Sharks in their first-round, best-of-five quarterfinal series.

That last time theses two teams met in the post-season was in the quarterfinal round of the 2014-15 playoffs. The Bears won all three home games to take the five-game series and advance to the second round.

P.A. has a history of needing all five games to close out a series. Last year the Bears went the distance to defeat the Melville Prairie Fire in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in five games.

After finishing the regular season with an 11-0 win over the Weyburn Southern Range Gold Wings on Sunday, the Bears took Monday and Tuesday off, meaning they head into Game 1 without a team practise.

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Tale of the Tape

On Feb. 22 the Prince Albert Northern Bears and the Battlefords Sharks kick off their first-round playoff match at the Art Hauser Centre. The Bears swept the season series 4-0. (Records read W-L-OTW-OTL)

Record: Prince Albert — 18-6-4-0; Battlefords — 5-19-2-2

Last 10: Prince Albert — 6-3-1-0; Battlefords — 0-7-2-1

Top scorers: Prince Albert — Abby Soyko (31 points); Battlefords — Jordan Kulbida (22 points)

Goals for/against: Prince Albert — 134/50; Battlefords — 73/131

Last meeting: Miranda Heidt scored two goals and added an assist to help lead the Bears to a 10-2 win over the Sharks at the Art Hauser Centre on Jan. 25, 2017.

Playoff schedule:

Game 1 vs. Battlefords: Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

Game 2 @ Battlefords: Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3:45 p.m.

Game 3 vs. Battlefords: Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m.

*Game 4 @ Battlefords: Monday, Feb. 27 at 8:30 p.m.

*Game 5 vs. Battlefords: Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

*If necessary