Aston, PA -- The Little Flyers hit the road for a weekend series in Norwalk, CT against the Connecticut Oilers.  After winning six games in a nine day span over the past two weeks the Little Flyers put their 10 game win streak on the line against one of the toughest opponents the Eastern Hockey League has to offer.  The Oilers won three out of four games in the regular season last year against the Little Flyers, despite being outscored 15-14 in those games.

                Little Flyers veteran goaltender Sam Kany got the start in net for Saturday night’s game while Mac Vail was in net for the Oilers.  Vail would be tested early and often in this game as the Little Flyers offense was relentless in putting the puck on net throughout the game.  Both teams would get a chance on the Power Play early as the Little Flyers were shorthanded just over three minutes into the game, a Connecticut penalty thirty six seconds later would eliminate the man advantage.  The first period ended scoreless with the Little Flyers outshooting the Oilers 12-2. 

                The game would remain scoreless until the 7:10 mark of the second period.  Oliver Arnberg, with the puck in the slot had a shot attempt deflected which found the stick of Alex Peterson at the side of the net.  Peterson got the puck across to Christian Karbler, who took two whacks at the puck and put it in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.  The Little Flyers extended the lead to 2-0 just over four minutes later when Joey Savel and Konsta Jaakola moved into the Oilers zone on a 2on2 opportunity , Savel’s shot was blocked, Jaakola got the puck in the slot, spun around taking a shot on net that was saved by Vail.  Savel charging hard towards the net got a shot off that several players on the ice thought went in for a goal.  The puck had squirted out to the side of the net to a wide open Alex Ochterbeck who shot the puck into the open net.  On the other end of the ice the Oilers couldn’t solve Kany as he made 11 saves in the second period.  With just 28 seconds left in the period Evan Heldt passed a puck up to Peter Hatton who carried the puck into the Oilers zone, he dropped the puck back to Alex Peterson who fired a wrister short side and high past the Oilers goaltender for his 5th goal of the season. 

                The Little Flyers found themselves on the power play 12 seconds into the third period and they would capitalize.  Joey Savel passed the puck to Chris Best on the point, Best shot the puck towards the net with Jamie Bucell in front, Bucell stayed with the play and poked the puck in past Vail to go up 4-0 just two minutes into the third period.  Just over three minutes later Alex Ochterbeck blocked a clearing attempt by the Oilers and got the puck over to Joey Savel who put a shot on net that squeaked by the goalie for his 5th goal of the season.  “We did a good job of winning battles tonight, we had good puck support, got in front of the net and created 2nd and 3rd chances well” said head Coach Rocky Russo.  An Oliver Arnberg Power Play goal that was assisted by Ziki Mroz and Jamie Bucell would extend the lead to 6-0 for the Little Flyers.  The Oilers wouldn’t give up as they tested Kany a lot in the period as they outshot the Little Flyers 16-12.  Keegan Davis would spoil Kany’s shutout bid on a Power Play goal half way through the third to cut the Little Flyers leads to 6-1.  Oliver Arnberg would add his 2nd goal of the game at the 11:58 mark to extend Philly’s lead back to six.  That would be all the scoring for the day as the Little Flyers would win the game by a final score of 7-1 to extend the win streak to 11 games.  “Going into the weekend we knew the history between the organizations and we prepared for a physical battle, coach preached discipline to us all week long.  We knew they had some skilled guys, so we knew we had to take away their time and space to create plays.   Guys were making plays all over the ice, Brett Abdelnour is a kid who doesn’t get a lot of credit, but he works his bag off every shift every game.  He loves to block shots and compete, he made a heck of a diving play to block the puck from going in, I owe him one” said goaltender Sam Kany after Saturday night’s win.  With the win Kany improves to 6-0-1 on the season, lowering his goals against average to 1.37. 

                The Little Flyers and Oilers would be back at it Sunday just 14 hours after the Little Flyers 7-1 victory.  Sunday afternoon’s matchup featured Joe Giacobbo in net for the Little Flyers and Sam Merrill getting the start for the Oilers.  If the Little Flyers were going to extend their winning streak to 12 games they were going to have to follow what their coach told them all week and stay disciplined.  Tempers would flare early as just 18 seconds into the game Little Flyers defenseman Ian Kwant and Oilers forward Vincent Petruolo were called for coincidental roughing minors.  Back to back slashing calls would see each time get shortened Power Play chances that neither could capitalize on.  Alex Ochterbeck would open the scoring at the 5:36 point of the first period.  A battle along the boards resulted in the puck up to Ziki Mroz at the point, he passed the puck to Konsta Jaakola moving towards the net, the last Oilers defender back stepped up to play Jaakola and he dished the puck to Ochterbeck on his left who was in alone on the goaltender, Ochterbeck shot the puck short side to put the Little Flyers up 1-0.  About a minute and a half later the Oilers would answer, Brett Backman scored on a breakaway after a breakdown in coverage by the Little Flyers defensemen.  An Oilers roughing penalty put the Little Flyers on the Power Play midway through the first period.  On the Power Play an Oilers clearing attempt was kept in the zone by defenseman Chris Best, Best passed the puck to Joey Savel along the boards.   Savel passed the puck to Oliver Arnberg who was moving towards the net, with Jamie Bucell setting a screen in front of the net Arnberg’s wrist shot found the back of the net to retake the lead.  Peter Hatton extended the Little Flyers lead to 3-1 when Ziki Mroz intercepted an Oilers pass and chipped the puck to Alex Peterson, Peterson backhanded the puck to Peter Hatton who one timed it past the Oilers goaltender with: 42 left in the first period.  The Little Flyers outshot the Oilers 17-5 in the period.

                The only scoring of the second period came after Joey Savel gained possession in the neutral zone and passed up to Jamie Bucell who entered the Oilers zone on a 2 on 1 opportunity with Oliver Arnberg, Bucell passed across to Arnberg who buried the puck in the net for a 4-1 Little Flyers lead.  The Little Flyers were in the Oilers zone for most of the period outshooting them 16-4, but could only score one goal in the period.  The rivalry between the two teams heated up in the third, as 20 penalties were assessed for over 65 penalty minutes in the period.  The only goal would come as a result of one of those penalties as Chris Best passed the puck along the blue line to Ziki Mroz who unleashed a shot from the point past the Oilers goalie to take a 5-1 lead.  Giacobbo faced his biggest challenge of the period on a shorthanded chance when an Oilers forward was all alone in front of the net with Giacobbo who made the pad save to maintain the 5-1 lead.  The defense would lock down from there only allowing one more shot in the period, when the final buzzer sounded the Little Flyers had won their 12th game in a row, outshooting the Oilers 56-13 in the game.  “Our defense did a really good job this weekend with their gaps and keeping them tight, I thought our forwards were a lot better on Sunday in limiting the Oilers to very few chances off the rush with great back pressure” said Giacobbo.  In the last five games the Little Flyers have outscored their opponents 29-9, “As a team we have found what works as of late, which is team contribution.  All four lines are finding a way to score not just one or two.” Said second year forward Christian Karbler “Coach always reminds us no matter how many goals we score it’s all about the process and playing Little Flyers hockey and I think we made major strides towards that this weekend” Karbler added.  With the Little Flyers win streak currently at 12 games with two big matchups against division opponents this weekend Coach Russo and the staff are focusing the team on the same details as they started in August at the beginning of training camp.  “We are always a process driven team.  We are constantly working to do the little things well and let the results take care of themselves.  We are certainly aware of our success at this point but we also know that the league is so competitive that if we don’t continue to improve we won’t have the same successes as the season goes on” said Coach Russo after Sunday afternoons win. 

                The Little Flyers will put their 12 game win streak on the line this Saturday night when they head to West Chester, PA to play cross town and division rival the Philadelphia Jr Flyers.  Sunday the Little Flyers will be back on home ice against the New Jersey Rockets.

Arnberg Named to League’s Three Stars of the Week

                Forward Oliver Arnberg has been named to the Eastern Hockey League’s Three Stars of the Week for his performance this past weekend.  The 5’7” Nynashmns, Sweden native powered the Little Flyers offensive surge in two wins against the Connecticut Oilers.  Arnberg tallied four goals and added one assist for five points in the two game series sweep.  “I knew that Arny (Oliver Arnberg) was going to break out eventually.  He has a top end skill set and a very quick release.  He has been playing well and note quite having success burying the puck.  That obviously changed this weekend with his 4 goals, I’m sure that will get his confidence going and he will continue to find the back of the net” said Little Flyers Head Coach Rocky Russo on his first year forwards big weekend.  Arnberg is now the third consecutive Little Flyer to earn one of the Leagues weekly honors.