Aston,PA — On Friday, the Little Flyers begin their road to the EHL Frozen Finals.  In first round playoff action, the Little Flyers will host the Connecticut Oilers in a best of three series at IceWorks Skating Complex.  Game one is set for Friday March 9th at 7:00PM.  The Little Flyers come into the series winners of five straight games, including a sweep last weekend of the Connecticut RoughRiders to close out the regular season.  

      The Oilers and Little Flyers played four times during the season with the Little Flyers winning all four games, outscoring the Oilers 21-5.  Brendahn Brawley and Alex Henson each won two games in net, making a combined 99 saves on 104 Oilers shots in the regular season games.  The two teams haven’t played each other since December 10th.

     Offensively, the Little Flyers will be led by EHL regular season scoring champion, Joey Savel and the league’s leading goal scorer Alex Ochterbeck who are looking to get back to the EHL Finals after last seasons overtime game five loss in the finals.  Savel and Ochterbeck will have plenty of help as 14 Little Flyers finished the regular season with 11 or more points.  Ryan Galvin, Avery Smith, Nate Mickey, Nick Magill-Diaz, Eric Higgins and Matt Sheaffer all scored 9 or more goals.  Magill-Diaz led all EHL defensemen in scoring with 48 points.  Ricky Walsh and Ryan Vogt add more playoff experience to the Little Flyers forwards as returners to the EHL post season.  Special teams are always crucial in the playoffs, the Little Flyers will look to capitalize on power play opportunities in the series as their top rated unit at 27.4% goes against the Oilers 12th ranked penalty kill.  Grant Rinke and Mitchell Hall are big power play contributors, with half of Rinke’s goals coming via the power play and Hall dishing out 10 assists with the man advantage.  Kyle Scott, who led the EHL Premier in scoring until his full time call up to the EHL roster will be looking to net his first goal with the EHL team in the playoffs.  

     Defensively, third year veteran Trevor Lewandoski who has made two consecutive trips to the EHL Finals leads the unit that allowed just 2.08 goals per game in 50 regular season contests.  Lewandoski isn’t the only Little Flyers blue liner with post season experience as Ziki Mroz will make his second appearance in the EHL post season.  Brendan Coughlin, Cade Street, Nick Daluisio and Nick Magill-Diaz make up the rest of the defensive core that will be depended on to stop the Oilers offense.  In goal, the one-two punch of Brendahn Brawley and Alex Henson will look to continue their strong play against the Oilers, during the regular season the two combined for a 1.25 GAA and .951 save percentage in four games against their first round opponent.  

     The best of three series will be held on the Little Flyers home ice at IceWorks Skating Complex March 9-11th, game times and dates are below.  All games in the series can be seen live on HockeyTV.  Be sure to follow the Little Flyers on all social media platforms for updates throughout the series.

Friday March 9th - 7:00PM

Saturday March 10th - 7:30PM

*Sunday March 11th - 3:00PM (If Necessary) 

Photo Credit: Justina Yost, JYostHockey