BOX SCORE 

ASTON, Pa -- Shoot early and shoot often.

That was the mantra for the Philadelphia Little Flyers on Sunday afternoon at IceWorks Skating Complex.

And if you blinked, you might have missed something. The Little Flyers used a five-goal outburst on 21 shots in the first period en route to an 8-1 blowout win over the New Jersey Renegades.

Logan Downs had two goals and an assist. His linemates, David McQuiston (1G, 2A) and Nicholas Bouchard (3A), also had three-point afternoons.

"It was good," Downs said. "I was a little rusty [in our first game back from break] on Friday. I picked it up today playing with David and Nick. We work well together. Our line was buzzing."

Notable goals
Downs potted his first goal of the day at 9:32 of the first period after a mad scramble in front of the crease. Bouchard and McQuiston battled hard and the loose puck wound up on Downs' stick to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.

At 13:33 of the opening frame, McQuiston won an offensive-zone faceoff and sent a cross-ice pass to Downs for a backhand goal to make it 4-0.

Stroik scored the fifth and final goal of the first at 18:48. New Jersey turned the puck over in the high slot and Stroik went top shelf for his seventh tally of the season.

Jack Ellis got the Little Flyers back on the board in the third period at 10:05. The 2003 birth year perfectly positioned himself to intercept a Renegades clear attempt and fired a wicked wrister glove side to make it a 6-1 game.

Just 41 seconds later, McQuiston registered his first career goal with PLF off a nice feed from Downs on a 2-on-1 rush. Bouchard picked up the secondary assist after fighting off a NJ forward in Philadelphia's zone and pushing the puck up ice to Downs.

Johnny Lee deposited the final marker of the day at 11:40 after Chris Claycomb surprised the Renegades with a quick shot off an offensive-zone draw. The rebound bounced right to Lee for his sixth of 2020-2021.

Power play
The Renegades visited the penalty box just once on Sunday.

And Philadelphia cashed in.

In an almost identical play from Friday night, Thomas Yocum fired another blast for his third goal in 10 games. Elliott Schon possessed the puck from behind the net before dishing it to Bouchard, who then set up Yocum for a heavy slap shot at the top of the circle to make it 1-0.

Penalty kill
The Little Flyers finished the weekend a perfect 12 for 12 on the PK after killing off six more shorthanded situations against New Jersey.

They even managed a shortie. 

At 12:22 of the first, Ellis forced a turnover on a forecheck, corralled the puck and fed a crashing Steven Griffin in the slot for a bar-down goal to give PLF a 3-0 lead.

Goalie report
Trey Mattern was again sound in net.

The Manahawkin, New Jersey native made 21 saves on 22 shots and had two highlight-reel worthy stops in the third period with his glovehand while shorthanded.

Mattern’s best stop of the afternoon came at 10:40 in the second period. He made a nice pad save off a shot from the blue line and sprawled across the paint for a diving blocker stop on the rebound.

"Trey has been coming up huge for us," Downs said after the game. "He's been phenomenal this season."

Mattern is now 7-3-0 with a 2.97 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and one shutout in the 2020-21 campaign.

Loose pucks
With three assists, Bouchard is back on top of the EHL Premier leading scorers list with 31 points this season. He has four goals and 10 assists during his current six-game point streak. ... Downs now has six goals and two assists in his last five games. He leads the Little Flyers with 10 tallies. ... McQuiston has four points in his first two games with Philadelphia. ... The team PK jumped to third in the EHL Premier at 84.6 percent. 

Up next
These two teams will meet again on Saturday, Jan. 23 at IceWorks. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. The Little Flyers will then travel to Jersey Shore Arena for a 10:50 a.m. matchup with the 87s on Sunday, Jan. 24.