Photo Credit: Justina Yost 

Aston, PA — On Wednesday, the Little Flyers EHL team welcomed the Philadelphia Jr.Flyers to IceWorks for an afternoon rematch of last years EHL Finals.  November's Goaltender of the Month, Alex Henson got the start in net for the Little Flyers, with Dakota Delbridge getting the start for the visiting Jr.Flyers.  

          The EHL’s leading scorer, Alex Ochterbeck wasted no time putting his mark on this game.  Ochterbeck took a pass from Brendan Coughlin in the neutral zone, made a move around a Jr.Flyers defenseman and fired a wrist shot past past Delbridge for the 1-0 lead just twenty five seconds into the game, Nate Mickey assisted on the goal.  The Little Flyers offense got hot in the last five minutes of play in the first period.  First, Ochterbeck added his second goal of the game taking a pass from line mate Joey Savel, after beating a Jr.Flyers player to the puck on a face off.  Less than three minutes later the combo of Ochterbeck and Coughlin hooked up for another goal.  Coughlin carried the puck into the Jr.Flyers zone and unleashed a rising shot that went past Delbridge high blocker side, Ochterbeck and Cale Coor added assists on the play.  The offense wasn’t done there as just seventeen seconds later, Sasha Miniouchine redirected a Grant Rinke shot for his 8th goal of the season, Stanislav Haurus picked up an assist as well.  The Little Flyers went into the first intermission leading 4-0, Henson stopped all 12 Jr.Flyers shots he faced.

          Looking to shift the momentum in the game, the Jr.Flyers made a goalie change to start the second period with Albin Mulic taking over for Delbridge.  The two teams traded scoring chances through the first several minutes of the second period with neither finding the back of the net.  Midway through the period, the Little Flyers added to their lead courtesy of Nate Mickey.  Mickey took a feed from Haurus in the neutral zone, gained the Jr.Flyers zone and put a wrist shot across the goal line.  Joey Savel increased the lead to 6-0, scoring his 20th goal of the season that was assisted by Ochterbeck and Mitchell Hall.  The Offense wouldn’t stop there as the Little Flyers scored three goals in a fifty one second span.  First, Ricky Walsh battled for a puck in front of the net to score a power play goal with assists from Ryan Galvin and Mickey.  Then, Mickey scored his second goal of the game, tapping in a pass from Haurus as he drove to the net, Miniouchine added an assist.  Off of the ensuing face off, Galvin took a pass from Ziki Mroz, dangled around a Jr. Flyers defenseman and beat Mulic with a wrist shot to take a 9-0 lead into the locker room.  Henson remained perfect in the game, saving all 10 Jr.Flyers shots in the period bringing his game total to 22.

          The Little Flyers added three more goals in the third period.  Ryan Vogt, scored his third goal of the year less than two minutes into the final twenty minutes of play, Rinke and Haurus tallied assists on Vogt’s power play goal.  Ochterbeck scored his league leading 34th goal of the season to cap the hat trick.  The final scoring of the day came courtesy of Avery Smith, his 13th of the season.  Haurus picked up his 4th assist of the day on Smith’s goal and Rinke his 3rd, both career highs as Little Flyers.  The 12-0 win is the Little Flyers largest margin of victory since joining the EHL.  Henson made 11 saves in the third period to pick up his first shutout of the season.  After losing his first start as a Little Flyer on October 27th, Henson has won his last seven starts to improve to 7-1 with the black and orange.  

          The Little Flyers close out the 2017 calendar year at the EHL’s December showcase being held in Walpole, Massachusetts.  Both showcase games will be against North Conference opponents.  On Sunday, the Little Flyers face off against the Vermont Lumberjacks at 11:20am and on Monday they take on the Valley Jr. Warriors at 8:10am.  As always, All Little Flyers Games can be seen live on HockeyTV.