Something has to give as the top team in the Central Division faces the hottest team in the division standings during the opening round of the playoffs.

The Aberdeen Wings, winners of nine straight games, face top-seeded Bismarck in a best-of-fives series in the NAHL hockey playoffs starting this weekend. Bismarck will host the first two games with game three and if needed game four at the Odde Ice Center, and then back to Bismarck for game five if necessary.

The Wings have gotten healthy down the stretch and pieced together a strong closing surge.

“Some of our lines are gelling and things are just going well for us,” said Aberdeen coach Scott Langer. “We’re winning games with hard work. I think when you put in that work, you’re going to eventually get some reward for it.”

The Wings have exploded for 47 goals in those nine victories, an average of more than five per game. That’s a stark contrast to an early period during the regular season.

“We’ve certainly seen the other side of that this year with some of the spurts that we did have where we couldn’t score, but they stuck with it and they’re just doing the right things to score goals,” Langer said. “They’re going to the net. They’re making plays. They’re taking the goalies eyes away, doing all of the stuff that it takes to score a goal. It’s hard to score. It’s hard to score at any single level. Obviously, when you get into the playoffs, things tighten up quite a bit, and you get a goal here, get a goal there, hopefully it’s enough.”

The Wings have had their backs against the wall for a while now, and came up big the last few weeks of the regular season to secure the final playoff spot in the division. If nothing else, they are used to the urgency of having to win.

“We’ve kind of been sending that message all along. We had to find ways to win games, and we still have to find a way to win games,” Langer said. “That just doesn’t change, obviously, your opponent does. You’re playing the best team in the league. You’ve got to play an honest game. The team that outworks the other team is the team that’s going to be successful.”

While the Wings have won nine in a row, the Bobcats have lost just 10 games total the entire season. Bismarck features a veteran squad that presents plenty of challenges.

“Everybody plays for the playoffs and everybody plays to win a cup, so everything gets super tight. You know you’re going to get everybody’s best performance,” Langer said. “We know we’re going to get Bismarck’s best. They’re a deep team and with a lot veteran players over there, so we’re going to have to play a perfect hockey game, there’s no question, but that’s our plan.”

The two teams haven’t faced each other since February. They’ve played eight times with Bismarck winning six, including all four of their home matchups against the Wings. Needless to say, Aberdeen needs to be able to win at least one game at Bismarck.

“Sometimes being on the road can be a really good thing, because it’s just you. There’s no distractions,” Langer said. “We’ve won at other team’s buildings down the stretch, but they’re good at home. There’s no question. They get great support there. They run a good show and they’ve played really well at home.”

Langer pointed out several keys for the Wings in order to win the series against the Bobcats.

“It’s going to take us staying out of the box, it’s going to take us being good on our specialty teams, we’re going to have to neutralize their top-end stars,” Langer said. “We’re going to have to take advantage of the depth.”

Aberdeen has displayed that stellar depth down the home stretch now that players have gotten healthy.

“That’s how we kind of built it,” Langer said, “we just didn’t have the luck of having that depth all season, but now’s the right time to have it; let’s utilize it.”

Langer said his players can still maintain an aggressive style of play without committing a bunch of penalties and being forced to play short-handed against the best team in the division.

“You can be aggressive. You can be tough to play against. You don’t need to take stick penalties. Stick penalties are lazy penalties to me,” Langer said. “If you work a little harder you don’t have to utilize your stick in those situations, you utilize your feet. I think it’s just a matter of being a discipline hockey player at the biggest time of the year.”

The Wings have not lost a game since mid-March and would loved to keep that winning streak going as they head into the playoffs this weekend.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Langer said of competing in the postseason, “and looking forward to being part of the journey with these guys.”