BOX SCORE

ASTON, Pa. -- Gavin Fritch is turning out to be quite the addition for the Philadelphia Little Flyers EHL team.

The 6-foot-1 winger has developed some instant chemistry with Kyle Patton and Robbie Seewagen since arriving to the City of Brotherly Love.

That was evident yet again in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Protec Jr Ducks at IceWorks Skating Complex. The trio combined for eight points, with Fritch finding the back of the net twice and registering an assist to cap off a three-point afternoon.

The Little Flyers didn’t make things easy on themselves in the first period though. 

The Ducks scored back-to-back goals at 5:13 and 6:00 to jump to an early 2-0 lead. Parker King's tally appeared to change direction on the way in and a bad turnover in the offensive zone, paired with a PLF defender losing an edge, led to Nick Snyder's marker on an odd-man rush.

Needing a momentum shift, Jake Frankenfield got a rise from the Philadelphia bench at 12:39 with a beautiful hip check to break up a potential 3-on-2. 

After some high-energy shifts from Johnny Scarduzio, Sebastian Rominiecki and Keegan Morin, the scales began to shift in favor of the Little Flyers.

At 8:36, Brett Turner began a breakout up to Dante Gattone. Gattone made a quick touch pass to Josh Wilkins in the neutral zone to start the rush up ice. Wilkins entered the offensive zone, cut to the middle and fired a hard snapshot on goal. Protec netminder Dakota Meyer got a piece off the offering but left a juicy rebound for a crashing Scott MeGraw, who guided the puck over the goalline to make it 2-1.

Philadelphia evened the score at 2-2 eight minutes into the second period. With Connor Tartaglione in the box for cross-checking, PLF went to work on the power play. MeGraw and Patton passedback and forth from the point to the high circle before Patton fired a laser that Fritch tipped over Meyer's shoulder.

Protec quickly recovered. Just 39 seconds later, Nick Newman put the Ducks back up 3-2 after some poor coverage down low.

Instead of getting discouraged, the Little Flyers pressed back. Connor MacDonell tied things up again at 13:57 after Wilkins blocked a pass attempt and Vincent Nicosia's initial attempt landed right on MacDonell's blade for a rebound goal backdoor.

The third period was all Little Flyers. Patton gave the home team its first lead of the afternoon at 4:07. Fritch and Seewagen collected helpers on the play.

At 9:17, Patton made a brilliant pass to the high slot for Seewagen. Seewagen had his stick lifted but Fritch came flying in and roofed home his second tally of the day to make it 5-3.

PLF starting goalie Jakub Kubik came up big in the tailend of the final frame. Jimmy Bell was assessed a five-minute major for head contact with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, forcing Philadelphia to the PK.

Kubik didn't budge. He made four stops on the kill, including a flurry of pad saves, to hold Protec off.

Loose pucks
Fritch has 11 points in his first seven games with PLF. ... Patton has three goals and three assists during his four-game point streak. ... MeGraw extended his point streak to four games, as well. He has one goal and six assists during that stretch. … Kubik finished with 34 saves on Sunday. … The Little Flyers went a perfect 4 for 4 on the PK and 1 for 3 on the power play. … Next up is a back-to-back set with New York Applecore on Saturday and Sunday at IceWorks.