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EHL Premier: Little Flyers win streak ends in 4-3 loss to 87s

By Tim Riday, 10/24/20, 12:15AM EDT

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The Little Flyers battled back but fell to the 87s, 4-3, on Friday.


BOX SCORE

ASTON, Pa. -- There are a few things you can expect when the Philadelphia Little Flyers and New Jersey 87s get together for an EHL Premier clash.

Offense. Physicality. Speed. 

Both clubs are evenly matched and if you blink, you might just miss something. 

The Little Flyers and 87s turned in yet another back-and-forth showdown on Friday night but New Jersey left IceWorks Skating Complex with a 4-3 win. The season series is now knotted at two games apiece. 

Patrick Price, Logan Downs and Steven Griffin all scored for PLF. Trey Mattern made 21 saves in net.

It didn’t take long for Philadelphia to strike first. Just over two minutes into the opening period, Kelly Stroik made a nice bank pass off the boards on the breakout to Patrick Price, who raced into the offensive zone, cut to the middle of the ice and sniped a wrister past Cole Moore’s left shoulder for a 1-0 lead.

With Chris Claycomb in the penalty box for cross-checking, Mattern came up big on the kill with a dazzling glove save at 11:12 to keep his team on top. 

The Little Flyers entered the second period with the same intensity they did in the first. Jack Ellis just missed a shortside attempt 53 seconds in off of a Griffin rebound. 

Unfortunately, the 87s capitalized on an odd-man rush at 2:17 when Ivan Borisov scored his first goal of the night to tie the game at 1-1. 

That didn’t stop the home team’s attack. Downs was then robbed on the backhand after Nicolas Bouchard found him down low at 2:59. About a minute later, Price threw a huge check in the corner that led to a Stroik shot on goal from the bottom of the circle.

With Philadelphia not letting up, New Jersey couldn’t avoid some mental breakdowns. At 4:25, Ian Weiss was whistled for interference. Just five seconds later, Ryan Miller went off for cross-checking to give PLF a 5-on-3 advantage.

Ellis had another scoring opportunity after a scramble in front but his offering struck the crossbar and rang out. Moore managed to fend off two more chances in high-danger areas and it forced the Little Flyers to regroup.

The 87s finally buckled under the pressure at 6:20. Bouchard made a brilliant pass to Griffin on the backpost and Downs deposited his rebound for his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-1.

Newcomer Thomas Yocum and fellow blueliner Anthony Conti made stellar defensive plays on back-to-back shifts to give PLF another boost. Yocum sprawled out on a 2-on-1 and blocked a cross-ice pass attempt to stop a New Jersey rush. Conti stepped up in the D-zone and a successful pokecheck pushed the play the opposite way.

But the 87s used a power-play tally of their own to tie things up at 13:20. Michael LoRicco was credited with the goal while Chris Cicarello and Borisov picked up assists.

The third period began with a beautiful stretch pass from Pat Jensen that sprung Brouchard for a breakaway. Moore stood tall, however, and denied Bouchard’s quick snapshot.

New Jersey went ahead by two goals after Brock Forrest beat Mattern at 5:28 and Borisov netted his second marker on a power play at 12:46.

The Little Flyers, as per usual, wouldn’t throw the towel in. While shorthanded with five minutes and 34 seconds to go in the third, Griffin forced a turnover at the blue line, pressed forward and scored on a breakaway to make it 4-3.

Price and Bouchard were both denied in the waning minutes and Philadelphia’s modest three-game winning streak came to an end.

Loose pucks
Bouchard (3G, 10A) has had at least one point in each of the Little Flyers’ first seven games. … Griffin has three goals and three assists during his current four-game point streak. … Philadelphia and New Jersey will face off six more times this season. … Next up for PLF is a 7:15 p.m. tilt with the New Jersey Renegades at Aspen Ice on Saturday night.