Playoff possibilities look better for Cedar Rapids RoughRiders than Iowa Heartlanders right now

CEDAR RAPIDS — Here’s your Corridor Cross Checks playoff update at the 10-games-to-go mark.

Let’s start with the Iowa Heartlanders. The first-year club failed to make the most of its opportunity at home last week to creep up the standings in the ECHL’s Central Division.

Iowa was heavily outplayed in a 4-2 Wednesday night loss to the Fort Wayne Komets. Fort Wayne outshot the Heartlanders by a 43-18 margin.

But the team rebounded Friday night with an impressive 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Heartlanders scored four times in the first period and got a 29-save shutout from goaltender Connor Kaczperski.

Cincinnati responded with a 4-2 win Saturday night at Xtream Arena.

So where does that leave things right now? Iowa has a 27-27-7-1 record and 62 standings points.

That places it in sixth place in the seven-team Central, three points ahead of last-place Indy. Toledo is in first with 87 standings points and has clinched one of four available playoff spots in the division.

Fort Wayne is looking good in second place with 77 points. Then it’s Cincinnati in third with 69, Wheeling in fourth with 67 and Kalamazoo in fifth with 65.

All of the teams in the division have played 62 games, with the exception of Cincinnati, which has played 63. If you’re not aware, any win gives a team two standings points, an overtime or shootout loss one standings point and a regulation loss no standings points.

Did you catch all that?

The Heartlanders have seven of their final 10 regular-season games on the road, including four straight this week. That includes a Wednesday night encounter at Kalamazoo.

Then it’s a three-in-three weekend, with Friday and Saturday night games at Cincinnati and a Sunday afternoon game at Indy. Needless to say, this is a really crucial week.

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders

Things look better right now for the team at the north end of the Corridor.

The RoughRiders took two of three games over the weekend at home against Team USA, properly known as the United States National Team Development Program. The Program has two squads that play a combined schedule in the United States Hockey League: the U17 team and U18 team.

Cedar Rapids played the U17s at Imon Ice: losing on Friday night, 8-2, before rebounding for wins of 4-1 Saturday night and 4-2 Sunday afternoon. The Program’s U18 team also played three games over the weekend, splitting two with Youngstown and beating Green Bay.

Now did you get all THAT?

The RoughRiders have a 23-26-2-1 record for 49 standings points in 52 games. That places it in a tie with Team USA for sixth place and the final available playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago is in first place in the division/conference with 74 standings points and has clinched a playoff spot. Dubuque is second with 69 points, followed by Muskegon in third with 62.

Then it’s Youngstown in fourth (57), Madison in fifth (54), CR/Team USA in sixth and Green Bay in seventh (47). Team USA has a game in hand on Cedar Rapids, which has a game in hand on Green Bay and two in hand on Madison.

The RoughRiders also have a three-in-three weekend, though two of the games are at home: Friday night against Waterloo and Sunday afternoon against Team USA, specifically the U18s. The Riders play Saturday night at Des Moines.

Playoff wise, the top two teams in each conference get first-round playoff byes. The third and fourth-place teams in each conference host a best-of-3 first-round series.

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