Aston, PA – On paper, the Eastern Hockey League Finals series is a dream matchup, the top two teams in the league battling it out for the EHL Championship.  Located just 15 miles apart, the two teams agreed to play a 1-1-1-1-1 series going back and forth between the Little Flyers home rink of IceWorks in Aston, PA and the Jr. Flyers home rink of Ice Line in West Chester, PA.  Winning the EHL regular season championship gave the Little Flyers home ice, hosting games 1, 3 & and if necessary game 5. 

                In game one on home ice, the EHL’s Goalie of the Year, Sam Kany, would get the start in net for the Little Flyers, facing off against Goalie of the Year runner-up Mac Vail for the Jr. Flyers.  The Little Flyers didn’t get off to the start they hoped as just 3:36 into the first period Jr. Flyer Tyler Glennon, deflected a shot past Kany to take an early 1-0 lead.  Having battled back anytime they were trailing all season long, the Little Flyers would maintain pressure on Vail in an attempt to tie the game up.  Vail was up to the task early, saving all 12 first period shots he would face.  After the early goal, Kany was locked in for the rest of the game, limiting the Jr. Flyers second chance opportunities.

                The next goal in the game would be big for either side and the pace of play reflected that with the teams trading scoring chances up and down the ice.  Kany and Vail would be the stars of the second period, each stopping all the shots they faced, sending game three into the 3rd period with the Jr. Flyers still leading 1-0.  The third would begin with the Little Flyers on the power play with time carrying over from a second period Jr. Flyers penalty.  As the man advantage expired, the Little Flyers entered the zone 3-on-2, Jamie Bucell sent the puck cross ice to Oliver Arnberg who puck the puck on net.  The initial shot was saved by Vail, but Trevor Coykendall battled in front and was able to put the puck in the net from his knees to tie the game at 1-1 with over 17 minutes left to play in the 3rd period.  The Little Flyers would continue to get pucks on net in the period but were unable to take the lead.  Even though the Little Flyers outshot the Jr. Flyers 12-4 in the period, neither team was able to break the 1-1 tie.

                It was fitting that the opening game of the series headed to sudden death overtime.  A holding penalty on the Jr. Flyers gave the Little Flyers a prime opportunity to take game one.  The feisty Jr. Flyers penalty kill came up big once again to keep the game tied.  Seconds after the Jr. Flyers penalty expired, Little Flyers defenseman Evan Heldt, was called for holding.  The Little Flyers were successful in killing off the penalty.  A Little Flyers breakaway forced a trailing Jr. Flyers player to take a hooking penalty to send the home team back to the power play.  As he has done throughout the playoffs, it would be Alex Peterson who delivered in the clutch for the Little Flyers.  Peterson took the puck at the point, skated in and fired a shot far side and past Vail to win the game for the Little Flyers, Cameron Bartkoski and Peter Hatton were credited with assists on the play.  The goal was Peterson’s league leading 10th of the post season and his 4th game winner in the playoffs.  For the game, Kany finished with 26 saves on 27 shots. 

                Twenty four hours after the Peterson game winner, the two teams were back at it on Saturday in West Chester, PA on the Jr. Flyers home ice.  For the Little Flyers, Joe Giacobbo would get the start in net, his first since the big 35 save performance in the series clinching win against the Rockets.  A game two victory would be big for both teams, the Little Flyers looking to take a commanding 2-0 lead and the Jr. Flyers looking to tie the series up at 1-1 to then make it a best of 3 series.  The intensity of the game was evident from the first drop of the puck, neither team wanting to give an inch to their opponent.  The visiting Little Flyers were able to get on the scoreboard first.  Jamie Bucell, scored his first goal of the playoffs by sticking with a rebound in front of the net and punching it home to take the lead at the 6:41 mark of the first period, Cameron Bartkoski and Christian Karbler assisted on the play.  The Jr. Flyers answered back three minutes later with a goal of their own.  With just over five minutes remaining in the period, Barry Kneedler corralled a rebound and put it past Giacobbo to take a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. 

                In the second period, the Jr. Flyers kept the pressure on Giacobbo, forcing him to make save after save to keep his team in the game.  An Alex Ochterbeck shot at the 6:06 mark of the 2nd period tied the game up for the Little Flyers.  Pressure in the Jr. Flyers zone caused a turnover; Joey Savel and Alex Peterson were able to get the puck to Ochterbeck moving towards the net.  The goal was Ochterbeck’s 6th of the playoffs.  As they had done the first period, Jr. Flyers answered right back to regain the lead off of a Luke Benitez goal.  Adding to the lead was Kneedler, who scored his second goal of the game with just under three minutes left in the second period.  For the period, the Jr. Flyers outshot the Little Flyers 19-7. 

                The Little Flyers attempted to come back and cut into the Jr. Flyers lead in the 3rd but Vail seemed to have all the answers early in the period.  With around eight minutes left to play, a puck that hit Vail looked like it went fully across the goal line and into the net, a Jr. Flyers player quickly dug the puck out of the net as the Little Flyers players were celebrating.  With no signal given on the ice, the referees stopped the game to discuss the play on the ice; after discussion they ruled ‘No Goal’.  This would be a major turning point in the Jr. Flyers favor.  Seconds later the Little Flyers bench was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty after wanting a penalty for what appeared to be a Jr. Flyers player covering the puck intentionally with his glove.  Not able to cut into the Jr. Flyers 4-2 lead, the Little Flyers dropped game two by a final score of 4-2.  For the game, Giacobbo would finish with 36 saves on 40 shots and suffers his first loss of the playoffs. 

                The two teams will take the week to make some adjustments and get ready to do battle again this weekend in games 3 and 4.  The Little Flyers will host the Jr. Flyers this Friday at 6:00 PM then head to Ice Line on Sunday at 3:00 PM for game 4.  If the teams split the next two games again, the decisive game 5 will be Monday back at IceWorks on home ice for the Little Flyers.  If the first two games are any indication of how the rest of the series will be, we can expect two or three hard fought games from puck drop until the final buzzer sounds to determine the Champions of the Eastern Hockey League.