BOX SCORE

The Philadelphia Little Flyers EHL team accomplished a lot of things they were hoping to in Tuesday’s season-opener against the Connecticut RoughRiders.

Things that, more often than not, usually translate to a win.

They outshot the RoughRiders. They established themselves physically. They dominated the faceoff circle. 

But it was special teams that ultimately did the Little Flyers in. Connecticut used two shorthanded goals separated by just over a minute and a power-play marker in an uneven second period to down Philadelphia, 4-3, at SoNo Ice House.

Evan West opened the scoring for the Little Flyers after deflecting a Josh Wilkins shot from the low slot in the first period. Wilkins corralled a Ryan Clear point blast that just missed the mark and bounced off the backboards before sending his offering on target. 

Off the ensuing faceoff, the RoughRiders came roaring into the Little Flyers’ defensive zone. Jakub Kubik turned aside a quick one-timer off the cycle to keep the game at 1-0, however.

Philadelphia continued to press late in the frame. Kyle Patton found Scott MeGraw back door but Connecticut goalie Adam Faust came up with a big save. Patton forced a turnover and dished back to MeGraw for another opportunity but the shot hit the outside of the left post with just seconds remaining in the period.

Anthony Tavares evened the score at 1-1 seven minutes into the second period after a Little Flyers breakdown in front of Kubik.

Philadelphia had a chance to get the goal back after Christian DiMeglio took a high-sticking penalty at the 9:23 mark. The power play didn’t go exactly according to plan though.

A turnover on a breakout led to a Lucas Baksay shorthanded tally at 10:15. Then Calyb Reeves connected with Tyler Buonopane on a RoughRiders odd-man rush 65 seconds later to make it a 3-1 game.

PLF head coach Mark Catron called a timeout after the back-to-back shorties to regroup his team but special teams continued to haunt the Little Flyers in the second. Dante Gattone went off for tripping at 15:12 and Colin Bella made it 4-1 with a blast on the PP.

Catron then attempted to spark Philadelphia by putting netminder Tyler Cassidy, last season’s EHL Premier Goalie of the Year, between the pipes to relieve Kubik. Shortly after, Gattone atoned for his penalty by delivering a huge hit along the boards.

That proved to be exactly what the Little Flyers needed to get back in the game. On the next shift, Ryan Houle fired a heavy shot on goal that deflected into the corner. Nick Snyder came in with a relentless forecheck to retrieve the puck and found a wide-open Robbie Seewagen for a snipe from the top of the circle to make it 4-2.

The third period opened with a huge Cassidy save on a shorthanded breakaway less than a minute in. Shane Green woke the Little Flyers back up with a crushing open-ice hit on Stephen Dempsey.

Not long after, Brett Turner used a burst of speed to get around the RoughRiders and made a quick cut to the front of the net but Faust was just quick enough to deny Turner’s backhanded deke.

The Little Flyers continued to make things interesting when MeGraw finally broke through just as a man advantage was expiring. Lain Singer and Seewagen picked up assists on MeGraw’s first of the season at 4:57 after some stellar puck movement.

Connecticut was on its heels for the remaining five minutes but Faust again bailed his team out, denying every last flurry Philadelphia fired his way to secure a 4-3 win.

Loose pucks
The Little Flyers outshot the RoughRiders 15-9 in the first period, 14-11 in the second and 18-5 in the third. ... Kubik made 14 saves on 18 shots. Cassidy turned aside all seven attempts he faced in relief. … The Little Flyers went 1 for 5 on the power play and successfully killed 3 out of 4 penalties. … Seewagen finished with a goal and an assist. Seven other PLF players registered a point (West 1G, MeGraw 1G, Wilkins 1A, Clear 1A, Snyder 1A, Houle 1A, Singer 1A). ... The Little Flyers are back in action Friday against the New Jersey 87s. Puck drop is 1 p.m. at Revolution Ice Gardens.