By Ryan Shute

The Philadelphia Flyers Junior Hockey Team will be hosting the Okanagan Eagles this Saturday, January 21 at 7pm and Sunday, January 22 at 1:30pm in what is scheduled to be the final traditional weekend home series of the regular season. This will also mark the first time the Okanagan Eagles step foot in the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone since joining the USPHL just one season ago.

The Flyers are looking to bounce back after dropping a tough one at home to the Connecticut Junior Rangers in a mid-week matinee on January 12..

At the 12:46 mark of the first period, Connecticut had a quick 3-0 lead as they scored two power play goals and one even strength goal in just 2:35.

Mateo Capriotti would give the Flyers a much needed breath of fresh air by scoring a short-handed goal at 15:34 to get the Flyers on the board and the score would stay 3-1 going into the first intermission.

The Junior Rangers would score the lone goal of the second, but the Flyers would get back within two early in the third, as Vadim Vasjonkin would score his 10th goal of the year with an assist from Reid Bibb.

The Flyers seemed to have puck control down in the Connecticut end most of the final period but the final score would be 4-2 in favor of the Junior Rangers, as the Flyers just weren’t able to solve goaltender Jimmy Poreda two more times to tie the game.

The Flyers are 2-0-1 against the Eagles thus far. The most recent meeting came in the middle game of their Winter Showcase schedule on January 7, seeing the Flyers skate to a 3-1 victory.

The goal scoring came from the likes of Vadim Vasjonkin, Jeff Eppright, and Richie Greenberg while getting a solid 30 save performance from goaltender Matt Beck.

Tickets for the weekend series are available at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees or online at USPHLFlyers.com.

Players to Watch:

For the Flyers it’s Jeff Eppright. The power forward has been a thorn in the side of the Eagles by recording two goals in the first three games of the season series thus far. I am looking for the South Jersey native to use his size in the dirty areas and continue his goal scoring success against the Okanagan club. 

For Okanagan I am watching out for Alexis Valenza. When Valenza is in the lineup, he has the capability of making things happen. He has recorded 11 points in just 16 games played and has produced well against the Flyers in the two of their previous meetings tallying 2 goals and an assist.