Fife Flyers made their first trip of the season to play outside of Scotland with a visit to the Vindico Arena to meet the Cardiff Devils. Ther Devils who only commenced their competitive season last weekend won the previous night in Manchester to start with a 3 and 0 record. The home side saw Josh Batch return from his one game suspension and they scratched Mac Carruth, Riley Brandt and Hunter Shinkaruk. The Flyers scratches were Martin Látal, James Spence and Artur Gatiyatov.

The first shot of the game came 90 seconds in from Johnny Curran from distance which was gloved by Ben Bowns. In the 3^rd minute Sam Duggan and Ben Davies collided mid ice and allowed Austin Farley to pick up the loose puck and his shot from the top of the slot was blockered away by Bowns. Shane Owen made his first save of the game in the 4^th minute when he steered a tipped puck to the side of his net. The Devils did however break the ice in the 5^th minute when Zach O’Brien received the puck close in and he went forehand backhand to shelf the puck over the shoulder of Owen. A minute later and Joey Martin and Andrew MacWilliam almost combined with Owen wrong footed. Bowns made a blocker save on PhélixMartineau in the 7^th minute as the game remained wide open. In the 9^th minute Nikolai Shulga skated into the Devils zone and tried to go short side on Bowns who shut him down. A minute later and Bown pulled off a smart pad save to deny a snapshot by Patrick Kyte from the circles. Moments later Owen made a solid stop on Tyler Busch as Tyler Heidt was called for hooking. The Devils started their powerplay looking dangerous with Reid Duke twice testing Owen but the Flyers however ended their penalty kill with two chances shorthanded. Firstly Drake Pilon and Martineau broke 2 on 0 on Bown with the latter having his shot saved and seconds later Curran went close with Bowns scrambling in his crease as the Flyers killed the Devils man advantage. In the 14th minute a giveaway in the Flyers zone saw the puck fed cross ice to Cole Sanford who was wide open but he shot over the bar. The Flyers went on their first power play in the 17^th minute when Cody Donaghy was called for a retaliatory slash on Kyte. The Flyers struggled to get anything set up and the best chance went the way of the Devils when Martin broke in all alone on Owen and tried to go backhand but the Fife netminder sprawled to keep the puck out. The power play ended without the Flyers getting a shot on goal. In the final 30 seconds the Devils went close again when a shot from Sanford from an angle tricked through Owen but the puck was cleared from danger.

Owen made the first of many saves in the second period on Kohen Olischefski in the opening minute. In the 22^nd minute he was called into action again when he made a fantastic leg save on Gleason Fournier. The Devils were dominating the cycle in the Flyers zone and in the 24^th minute Batch flicked the puck to Duggan who beat Owen high with his shot from the deep slot. A minute later and Martin stepped in off the half boards and drove the net but his backhand effort slid wide of the Fife net.  Cardiff kept on pressing and Reid Duke had a clear breakaway in the 28^th minute but shot wildly over the top of Owen and the net. Moments later and Lucas Chiodo was tripped by Jarrod Gourley to put the Flyers back on the power play. The Devils came closest to getting the next goal during the Fife man advantage when Olifscheski twice had efforts thwarted by Owen. The Devils returned to full strength and Gourley stepped out of the box to get a shot away on Owen who was at full stretch to make the save. Bowns who hadn’t seen much of the puck made a glove save on Daniel Krenželok in the 32^nd minute. Martin rippled the side netting with a shot before the Flyers survived a stramash around their net with Fife defencemen making a couple of blocks and Owen a couple of vital saves. Bowns made another save late in the period as he swallowed a shot from the blueline by Noah Delmas.

The third period was only 23 seconds old when the Flyers were called for a penalty with Madi Dikhanbek adjudged to have tripped a Devil. The trend of short handed chances continued as Martineau powered into the Devils zone and his shot was straight into the logo of Bowns. Curran was next to threaten on a 2 on 1 and Bowns did well to get the cuff of his blocker on the shot. However the Devils did make their man advantage count when O’Brien wove his way through the Flyers defence and from the circles beat Owen above the blocker to pretty much seal the deal. Twenty seconds after the restart the Devils were back on the power play with Austin Farley called for interference. The Flyers penalty kill was good and restricted the Devils to a few perimeter shots and just as they got back to full strength Olivier LeBlance was given the gate for a slash. Shulga had a short handed chance with a back hand shot that Bowns let loose but there was no one else in support. It was another good Fife kill after spending almost the entire opening six minutes of the period shorthanded. The Devils appeared content to sit on their three goal cushion but in the 50^th minute Olischefski was called for a high stick and the visitors found a glimmer of hope. Flyers retained possession in the Devils zone and when Pilon and Krenželok combined to play the puck across to Chiodo he let fly with a one timer from the circles that beat Bowns on the blocker side inside the post. The Devils response however was almost immediate with two goals inside a minute of the Flyers goal. Josh MacDonald powered his way through on goal and deked Owen to slide the puck into the net and 16 seconds later a bad break for the Flyers as Tyler Busch fired the puck across the crease and it caught Dikhanbek’s stick to find a way past the helpless Owen. In the 54^th minute there was yet another power play for the home side as Donaghey and Kyte got involved in roughing with the Flyer picking up an additional two minutes for a slash. Owen made a big glove save on Sanford as the Flyers returned to full strength then the Fife goalie denied Brett Perlini. With two minutes remaining the Flyers went back on the man advantage as Olischefski was called for hooking. A Krenželok shot handcuffed Bowns then Maxim Musorov had two attempts, the first saved by Bowns the second blocked by Richardson as time ran out on the Flyers.

Pic Credits – James Assinder

The Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 22nd September when they entertain the Glasgow Clan – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.