"Snowmageddon" proved to be a good thing for the North Allegheny hockey team.

Coincidence or not, as soon as the snow started to come down at the end of the first week of last month -- seemingly not stopping until the end of the month -- the Tigers started heating up and going the other direction -- up -- in the standings.

North Allegheny was 4-8-3 after a 4-1 loss to Wheeling Park Feb. 4. The next day, upward of 2 feet of snow began to fall. A few North Allegheny games -- along with many others -- were postponed.

Since then, the Tigers ran off wins in six of seven games, the remainder of the regular season heading into the PIHL Class AAA Penguins Cup playoffs, which get underway tonight for North Allegheny (10-9-3).

"From a timing standpoint, we picked a good time to get on a roll and to kind of get our own shop in order," Tigers coach Jim Black said. "The kids have played well the past two or three weeks. It's a nice string to go into the playoffs with."

North Allegheny, which will play Canon-McMillan at 8:05 in a first-round game at Southpointe, started the season 0-4-2 and won only one of its first nine games, albeit with several losses against good competition.

But down the stretch, the Tigers played their best hockey, allowing only seven goals in their final seven games, outscoring opponents, 32-7.

"It's nice to be going into the playoffs on a winning note," senior goalie Lindsay Holdcroft said. "We're pretty excited and we're feeling really confident right now."

Holdcroft is one of the big reasons why North Allegheny has been hot. She's the only starter in the PIHL who is female, but she's also one of the best goalies in the league.

Holdcroft will attend Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school, and play on its Division I women's hockey team. As a member of the Team Pittsburgh traveling girls' team, Holdcroft had been scouted by several college coaches.

"For me," Holdcroft said, "it was always more about the school, and if the hockey thing worked out, that was great. But I wanted to go somewhere because of academics. That's how Dartmouth came into being -- and the hockey thing worked out there, too, which makes me very excited."

Holdcroft points out her goals-against average (less than 2.20 in the regular season) wouldn't look so stellar without the help of the Tigers' commitment to defense in front of her.

Black calls the collection of junior Ryan Stupy, sophomore Dalton Landman, senior Matt Ogle and junior Eric Barger his "four shut-down defensemen," each logging plenty of ice time.

"Any time you look at a goalie's numbers, it's really a big reflection of how the defensemen play," Holdcroft said. "Our coach really emphasizes the defensive zone and making sure all the forwards are accountable for backchecking down to the front of the net.

"They've all definitely been doing a great job letting me see the shots and keeping them to the outside."

The Tigers will need to continue their strong defensive play against Canon-McMillan, which ranked sixth in Class AAA in scoring and 10 times scored more than five goals in a game this season. North Allegheny beat the Big Macs two weeks ago, 3-1, but lost to them in the first round of the Penguins Cup playoffs last season.

Despite the fact this is the matchup of the Nos. 8-9 seeds, the Tigers had six fewer points than Canon-McMillan (14-7-1). The Big Macs were part of a pack of teams fighting for the No. 2 seed behind Shaler, finishing only four points out of the No. 2 spot.

"Not to discount the teams who are up at the top ... but I truly feel that Canon-Mac is the most dangerous team out there," Black said. "They have some really talented players at each position.

"They've got phenomenal scorers, they can be physical, they have the makeup of a team that can win it all."

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.