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EHL Premier: Little Flyers pick up first win, top 87s in OT

By Tim Riday, 10/03/20, 6:45PM EDT

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The Little Flyers Premier team won a thrilling 5-4 OT game Saturday.


BOX SCORE

ASTON, Pa. -- The Philadelphia Little Flyers EHL Premier team is proving to be a resilient bunch early on this season.

They could’ve given up after going down four goals last week in the opener. Instead, they fought hard in the third period and made it a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Renegades. If they had a couple more minutes, the game had the potential to have a different outcome. They had the Renegades backed into a corner.

Saturday was no different. Despite trailing on three separate occasions, the Little Flyers scratched and clawed their way to a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory over the New Jersey 87s at IceWorks Skating Complex. Kelly Stroik earned the game-winner in the extra frame and Nicholas Bouchard finished with two goals and two assists for Philadelphia.

“It was a huge win for sure,” Stroik said. “The first of many. Now we’re going to regroup and get ready for next week.”

The first period was not kind to either starting goaltender. The 87s and Little Flyers were both buzzing offensively, trading goals back and forth only minutes apart each time the lamp was lit.

Luke Satkowski opened the scoring on the power play for New Jersey after Logan Downs was whistled for high sticking. Just over a minute later, Bouchard knotted the game at 1-1 off a nice cross-ice feed from Downs. Bouchard fought off a backchecking defender and went backhand for his first tally of the day.

At the 8:16 mark, PLF netminder Trey Mattern cut off a centering pass but unfortunately pokechecked it right to Andrew Walsh in the slot. Walsh buried his attempt to make it a 2-1 game.

That didn’t discourage Philadelphia, however. Mark Catron’s group kept its cool and took full advantage of a Ben Peiffer holding penalty just over midway through the first. Bouchard pushed the puck up ice on the man advantage to a flying Anthony Conti, who then attempted to feed Collin Berry in front but his pass hit Berry in the foot and bounced towards the corner. Conti continued to move his feet, picked up the puck on the side of the net and fired home a shot from an awkward angle that went bar down.

An Ian Weiss deflection goal off a Chris Cicarello point shot temporarily gave New Jersey a third lead at 3-2. A frantic opening frame came to a close with yet another game-tying goal when Bouchard forced a turnover with just 24 seconds remaining. Bouchard corralled the puck and found Downs backdoor for a tap-in goal to make it 3-3.

Then the goalies settled in. Mattern and 87s goalie Cole Moore traded save after save in a relatively even second period. The Little Flyers finally broke through for their first lead of the contest late in the frame, though. Tyler Ruppert got a piece of a clearing attempt that wound up landing right on Bouchard’s blade. Bouchard collected it and deposited his second marker to give his team a 4-3 advantage.

A bit of bad puck luck cost Philadelphia in the opening minutes of the third period. Lucas Kline was credited with New Jersey’s fourth goal of the afternoon after the puck was deflected twice on its way past Mattern.

Things tightened up defensively the rest of the way, especially when the game went to overtime. Angelo Carboni was assessed a tripping penalty just 12 seconds into OT and the Little Flyers were forced to go on the kill.

They were certainly up to the task. Several blocked shots from the team’s three penalty killers and four huge stops from Mattern gave Philadelphia all the momentum they needed to earn its first win of the young season.

Fresh out of the box, Carboni joined Stroik on the forecheck and would not leave the offensive zone without the puck. From behind the net, Stroik won a puck battle and forced it in front. Just as Moore was about to cover, Carboni dug the puck out from the crease to a wide-open Stroik, who cleared the Little Flyers’ bench with his first of the season.

“It was a nice play by Angelo and I was right there to bury it,” Stroik said.

Loose pucks
Conti and Downs’ goals were the first of their respective junior careers as members of the Little Flyers. … Bouchard now has five points in two games this season (2G, 3A). … Philadelphia went 1 for 4 on the power play and successfully killed 3 out of 4 penalties. … These teams will face each other nine more times this season. The Little Flyers host the 87s at IceWorks Skating Complex on Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. Then the back-to-back series shifts to New Jersey  on Oct. 11 for a 12:30 p.m. puck drop at Jersey Shore Arena.