Aston,PA - - The Philadelphia Little Flyers hit the road this past weekend for two games in Massachusetts. Friday night, the Little Flyers visited the Boston Jr. Rangers who were ranked third in the EHL Power Rankings.

                Will McEwen got the start for the Little Flyers in goal.  The two teams exchanged scoring chances through the first ten minutes of play.  The Jr. Rangers were able to get on the board first with a power play goal. On the play, McEwen made the initial save but the Little Flyers couldn’t clear the puck and the Jr.Rangers were able to find the rebound and put the puck across the goal line.  Philadelphia was unable to score in the first period and headed into intermission trailing 1-0.

                The Jr. Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 on their second power play goal of the game at the 14:42 mark of the second period.  The Little Flyers answered back with less than a minute remaining with an Alex Ochterbeck power play goal. Joey Savel got the puck to the net with Ochterbeck and Mitchell Hall digging away for the rebound, the goal was Ochterbeck’s third power play tally of the season.

                The Little Flyers found themselves shorthanded three more times in the third period and the opportunistic Jr.Rangers would take advantage once again.  With five minutes remaining in the game, the Jr. Rangers led 3-1.  The Little Flyers tried to get back in the game but were unable to put another puck past the Jr.Rangers goaltender.  Boston added an empty net goal with thirty seconds left in the game to seal the 4-1 victory.  For the game, the Little Flyers were shorthanded nine times, leading to three Jr. Rangers goals “nine power play opportunities against certainly doesn’t give us a good chance to win the game.  We need to make sure we don’t take any lazy penalties, any stick penalties in the offensive zone 200 feet away from our net and we certainly need to stay away from the retaliatory penalties.  Special teams have been a goal of ours since day one and we will continue to get better” said Little Flyers Head Coach George Lewis after the game. 

                Saturday, the Little Flyers looked to bounce back from Friday’s loss and take two points back home with them to Philadelphia as they visited the East Coast Wizards.  Brendahn Brawley got the start for the Little Flyers in Saturday’s game.  The Little Flyers spent a lot of time in the Wizards zone in the first period, shooting as many pucks on net as possible.  The line of Hall, Ochterbeck and Savel creates havoc all day for the Wizards Defenseman.  With four minutes remaining in the first, Ochterbeck picked off a Wizards clearing attempt and got the puck to Hall in the slot.  Hall pushed the puck to Savel at the side of the net, Savel dished a no look backhand pass across the crease to Hall who buried the puck into the wide open net.  The goal was Hall’s first career goal as a Little Flyer.

                The Little Flyers extended their lead three minutes into the second period.  With a delayed penalty call coming against the Wizards, the Little Flyers controlled the puck deep in the offensive zone with an extra attacker on the ice.  Cale Coor shot a puck towards the net that was initially saved but, Matt Sheaffer was battling hard around the crease to put the puck in the back of the net.  Two minutes later, captain Joey Savel added to the Little Flyer lead.  Ochterbeck found Hall in the slot, Hall’s Shot was saved by the Wizards goaltender but Savel was there to backhand the puck across the goal line.  Savel wasn’t finished in the period as he lit the lamp once again, this time on the power play.  Defenseman Brendan Coughlin got the puck to Nick Magill-Diaz at the point, Diaz passed the puck down low to Savel who put the puck off of the goaltenders back for his second goal of the game.  Down the other end of the ice, Brawley was solid for Philadelphia, stopping all 12 shots he faced through two periods.

                The third period was much like the second for the visiting Little Flyers.  The EHL’s top scorer, Alex Ochterbeck scored his 10th goal of the season just 1:06 into the third period off of a great feed from Savel.  Little Flyers newcomer, Liam Hansen scored his first goal of the season in his second game with the team at the 6:17 mark of the period, Sheaffer and Nate Mickey assisted on the play.  The final scoring of the day Cams off of the stick of Savel as he completed the hat trick with just over two minutes left in the game. Brawley picked up his second shutout of the season with an 18 save performance.

                After playing seven straight games on the road, the Little Flyers will return home this weekend. First on Saturday they face off against the 6-1 New Hampshire Avalanche.  On Sunday the Valley Jr. Warriors visit IceWorks for the first time this season.   

Photo Credit: Lindsay Tendler