Written by: Rory McGouran
Graphic Courtesy NAHL

It was a night to celebrate for the Northeast Generals, who will return to the playoffs for the first time since 2024.

The Generals defeated the Elmira Aviators 6-0 on Saturday night to guarantee a spot in the NAHL’s “Play-in” round.

The victory, backstopped by a 36-save performance by Will Mizenko for his 3rd shutout of the year, was filled with “firsts” for multiple Gens.

Logan Poulin scored his first career hat-trick with a three-goal, one-assist performance while extending his point streak to six games. This was also the 7th multi-goal game of Poulin’s rookie season.

Rookie defensemen Anthony Pomirico, who suited up for his fourth career NAHL game, picked up his first career point, assisting Rich Rucireto’s goal.

Finally, Tre Janssen snapped an 18-game point drought, scoring his first career NAHL goal, capping off the 6-0 victory.

The Generals set a season-high for successful penalties killed with 11, while also scoring a season-high two shorthanded goals in a single game, one from Poulin and the other by Andrew Gibbons. The Generals’ 15 shorthanded goals this season are the most in the East Division.

The NAHL East Division playoffs will feature six teams. The top two seeds will receive byes into the Divisional Semi-Finals (Maryland and Rochester). The remaining four teams will play a best-of-three series to join them (3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5).

The Northeast Generals can finish no lower than 5th place. However, with two games remaining, they can still obtain home-ice advantage and reach as high as 3rd place in the East.

The 3rd and 4th place teams will host all three games of the Play-in Series.

The Generals will wrap up their regular-season with a pair of home games against the Maine Nordiques on April 3rd and 4th. The Nordiques are currently four points ahead of the Generals, meaning the Generals would need to win both games in regulation to surpass them.