The old saying is “All good things must come to an end” and for the Little Flyers that saying came true this weekend with the end of their 30 game winning streak and streak of 33 straight games with a point, both the longest in EHL history.  The team was in Hooksett, NH for the final EHL showcase of the season over Martin Luther King weekend. 

                First up for the Little Flyers was a Sunday afternoon matchup with the New England Wolves, the Wolves came into the game with the lowest win total in the league.   However, the Wolves are not to be overlooked as they battled the Little Flyers hard on December 18th at the final showcase of 2016, a game the Little Flyers won 2-0.  Sunday’s game was no different as it was a battle from puck drop until the final horn.  Both Joe Giacobbo in net for the Little Flyers, and Joe Morgan in net for the Wolves were huge factors in keeping this game tight throughout the day.  The Little Flyers outshot the Wolves 19-9 in the first half but were unable to put a puck past Morgan.  Just over three minutes into the second half the Wolves were able to score the first goal of the game as a cross ice pass was one timed past Giacobbo’s glove.  The Little Flyers had opportunities to tie the game but Morgan has the answer every time for the Wolves.  Finally with less than five minutes to play and with the Little Flyers on a five minute Power Play, a Trevor Coykendall backhand pass found Captain Peter Hatton open in the slot, Hatton fired the puck past Morgan and into the net to tie the game at 1-1.  The Little Flyers had the Power Play throughout the remainder of the period but were unable to get the game winner, as the second half buzzer sounded the teams went to over time.  The 3on3 overtime period was an exciting one with both teams having possession time with the puck.  The Wolves were able to gain control of the puck and head into the Little Flyers zone, Wolves forward Ethan Homitz went around a Little Flyers defenseman, put the brakes on in front of the net and tucked the puck behind the sprawled out Giacobbo for the game winning goal.  The loss was the first for the Little Flyers since the opening game of the season, a game the Little Flyers also lost in overtime.  Even though the win streak was over the Little Flyers still hadn’t lost a game in regulation.

                Looking to bounce back from the tough overtime loss on Sunday, Monday’s game was a rematch of the 2016 EHL Finals as the Little Flyers faced off with the showcase hosts, the New Hampshire Monarchs.  The first half of this game was similar to the day before as both teams got plenty of scoring chances but neither was able to score a goal.  Sam Kany, in net for the Little Flyers made 14 saves in the first half and Jacob Weatherly made 9 saves in net for the Monarchs sending the game into intermission at a 0-0 tie.  The Little Flyers would have some good scoring chances in the second half but Wheatherly was up to the task, with his biggest save of the game coming when he robbed Little Flyers forward Alex Ochterbeck with a beautiful glove save midway through the half.  It would be Little Flyers forward Alex Peterson who broke the scoreless tie at the 13:04 mark of the second half.  Peterson’s linemates Peter Hatton and Christian Karbler set him up beautifully as Hatton backhanded a puck from behind the net to Karbler who one touched the puck across to Peterson for a one timer that would be the first goal of the day for either side.  The Monarchs came right back a little over a minute and a half later to tie the game 1-1.  The teams would remain in a deadlocked tie throughout the remainder of the half and headed to 3on3 overtime.  Both teams would actually get a power play opportunity in the overtime period but neither was able to capitalize as we headed to a shootout.  Kany was huge for the Little Flyers in the shootout as he saved the first two shot attempts from the Monarchs.  After Alex Peterson missed his attempt, defenseman Cameron Bartkoski was the second shooter for the Little Flyers, Bartkoski came in right to left on Wheatherly and shot a backhander that dribbled into the back of the net.  With the Little Flyers up 1-0 in the shootout, the Monarchs looked to tie things up while down to their final shooter.  Kany again was up to the task, making the save and winning the game for the Little Flyers, his 16th win of the season.  “That was a fun shootout, a lot of high energy out there from two competitive teams.  It’s nice to have a guy like Sammy (Kany) who can get in the net and everyone feels really comfortable with him in there, he’s a poised goalie and came up really big for us with those three saves to get the win” said Little Flyers Assistant Coach George Lewis following the game. 

                Tuesday’s game against the Valley Jr. Warriors was the Little Flyers final game of the EHL Showcase Series for the season.  Looking to continue the team’s Pointstreak which was sitting at 33 games heading into the matchup against the Warriors.  Joe Giacobbo was back in net for the Little Flyers looking for his 16th win of the season.  The Warriors were able to get on the board first with a goal on a two on one odd man rush into the Little Flyers zone at the 13:16 mark of the first half.  The Warriors gained possession on the faceoff after the goal and took the puck into the Little Flyers zone and were able to get a puck past Giacobbo to take a 2-0 lead, scoring the goals just 11 seconds apart.  The Little Flyers were able to cut into the Warriors lead when Peter Hatton took a pass from Alex Peterson and was all alone heading towards the net; Hatton backhanded the shot past the sprawled out Jr. Warriors goaltender for his 15th goal of the season.  Line mates Alex Peterson and Christian Karbler were credited with assists on the play.  The Little Flyers tied the game at 2-2 when a Chrst Best shot from the point was rebounded by Konsta Jaakola who tipped the puck back to a charging Joey Savel; Savel deposited the puck into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season.  The Jr. Warriors bounced back and were able to regain the lead with under a minute remaining in the opening half.  Total shots on goal after the first half saw the Little Flyers leading the Jr. Warriors 12-11. 

                The second half of the game was scoreless for almost twenty minutes with the Jr. Warriors clinging to a one goal lead.  Even though the Little Flyers couldn’t score the equalizer for the first twenty minutes, Giacobbo kept his team in the game as he faced 17 Jr. Warrior shots in the period.  A faceoff deep in the Jr. Warriors zone was won ahead by Little Flyers Center Jamie Bucell, Bucell backhanded the puck to Trevor Coykendall who tipped it over to Oliver Arnberg in front of the net.  A shot by Arnberg was saved but the rebound founds its way to Bucell who was able to put it in the net to tie the game at 3-3 with five minutes left in the half.  When it looked as if this game were headed to overtime the Jr. Warriors captain, Paul Boutoussov had different ideas.  Boutoussov took a pass on the wing and fired the puck past Giacobbo to put his team ahead 4-3 with 46 seconds remaining in regulation.  The Little Flyers were unable to tie the game with the time remaining and the team suffered its first loss in regulation of the season.  The loss also ended the Little Flyers EHL record of earning a point in 33 straight games (30-0-2) during that time.  After the game Assistant Coach George Lewis had this to say about the loss “It’s something we will learn from, this will make us better by learning from our mistakes.  As a staff the most important thing is effort, we need our guys to play 60 minutes every time they are on the ice and things will take care of themselves from there.” 

WHAT’S NEXT
The Little Flyers will hit the road once again for a two game series in Connecticut against the Hartford Jr. Wolfpack on Saturday January 21st & Sunday January 22nd.  Both games can be seen live on Hockey TV with membership subscription.