Mayhem post rout to close regular season, hit road for playoffs

Every opportunity was there for the Macon Mayhem to leisurely coast through Saturday’s game against Roanoke.

Already having clinched the William B. Coffey Trophy given to the team with the best regular season record in the SPHL, the Mayhem had already locked up the top seed for the playoffs, regardless of a win or loss by Macon on Saturday.

But the Mayhem hardly played like a team on cruise control. They scored early and dominated the night, taking care of the Rail Yard Dawgs 6-3 to close out the regular season with four wins in their past five games.

Macon took a 2-0 lead on goals by Jake Trask and Collin MacDonald within 40 seconds of one another in the first period, and second-period scores by Stephen Pierog and Matt Summers made it 4-0.

The Mayhem (37-13-6) open the playoffs on Tuesday in a best-of-three series against Columbus. All three games will be on the road since the Macon Coliseum had been previously booked for a Disney On Ice event, one that was booked prior to the Mayhem, in their second year of operation, becoming tenants of the Macon Coliseum.

Six who mattered

Trask: He gave Macon its first score for the second night in a row on a one-timer. This time, he powered his slap shot off a pass from Pierog 15:54 into the game.

MacDonald: Macon took a 2-0 lead 40 seconds after Trask’s goal with MacDonald shooting the puck by Roanoke goalie Joey Ballmer.

Pierog: After an earlier assist, Pierog got a goal of his own. Ballmer was unable to corral a loose puck in front of the crease, and Pierog made him pay the price for the goal and 3-0 Macon lead.

Summers: One of the Mayhem’s biggest on-ice leaders came up big in the scoring column. His goal and three assists gave him four points on the night, the most of any Mayhem player in a single game all year long. His goal came 32 seconds after Pierog’s score.

Matt Johnson: He kept the offensive pressure going for Macon in the third period with a wrist shot from the left side for a 5-1 lead after being set up for score by Mark Rivera 4:28 into the period.

Chris Joseph: He recorded a Mayhem season-best plus-five in plus-minus rating Saturday, and that night was capped off in the third period when the puck deflected off the blade of his stick and made it over the the left shoulder of Ballmer 5:50 in the final period for Macon’s final goal of the game.

Observations

Putting it away: Macon held a two-goal lead eight minutes into the second period, putting the Mayhem in position of having their lead cut in half with a single Rail Yard Dawgs goal. That changed within 32 seconds on goals by Pierog and Summers, totally changing the game’s dynamic.

Passingham’s turn: Troy Passingham got the start in net for Macon on Saturday as Jordan Ruby got the night off after starting the past four games for the Mayhem. Passingham had a strong night overall to go into the postseason with, stopping 24-of-27 shots to finish the season with an 8-3-2 record.

Special teams start strong: Macon began the game by ensuring that Roanoke was unable to gain a foothold on special teams. The Mayhem killed off Roanoke’s first two power play chances in the first period with Macon’s lone extra-man advantage in the first period resulting in Trask’s goal.

They said it

Mayhem head coach Kevin Kerr on the Mayhem’s play on a night where the No. 1 seed was already clinched: “We played great. I told the guys, ‘I saw guys playing back-pressure and back-checking and diving in front of shots.’ I’m really proud of the way we played. We could have come out here and laid an egg and said, ‘we’ve got it all done, we’re in first place.’ The way they played (Saturday), they showed why this is a special team. They are very close. I can’t wait for the playoffs to start.”

Trask on closing out the season strong: “We talked about it (Friday), even. We wanted to celebrate for 10 or 15 minutes and then close out the season the right way and move into our series with Columbus.”

What’s next

The Mayhem open the SPHL playoffs at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Columbus. The best-of-three first-round series continues at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, with the third game, if needed, taking place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Because of Macon’s facility conflict, all three games will take place at the Columbus Civic Center.

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 6:47 AM with the headline "Mayhem post rout to close regular season, hit road for playoffs."