The Flyers welcomed Cardiff to Kirkcaldy for the first time this season after having met twice on Devils ice earlier in the season. The Devils were coming off the back of a home defeat by the Glasgow Clan the previous night and continued with recently signed Taz Burman in net with Josh Batch and Hunter Shinkaruk both scratches. The Flyers gave a home debut to Jordan Stallard with Austin Farley, Janis Voris, Maxim Musorov, James Spence, Fynn Page and Aiden Wilson the scratched players.

The Flyers had an early power play chance as Andrew McWilliam was called for slashing with just 61 seconds on the clock. Burman made his first save when he stopped a shot from Noah Delmas that was redirected close in by Ryan Foss. The Flyers only other effort of note before Devils returned to full strength was a blast from the blueline that Burnam snagged with his glove. Shane Owen was in the game in the 3^rd minute with his first save when he stopped a fierce shot from the circles by Cody Donaghey and the rebound was collected by Lucas Chiodo who carried the puck up the ice and gained the Devils blue line before saucering a pass over to Phélix Martineau who chipped the puck over the sprawling Burnam to give the Flyers the lead. Owen denied Kohen Olischefski in the 7^th minute as the Devils got another close in tip before he gave Josh MacDonald nothing to shoot at as he tried to go short side on the Flyers netminder. The visitors leveled the game in the 8^th minute when they kept the puck in the Flyers zone and Sanford was credited with a shot that looked like it took a deflection past Owen. There was a quick response from the Flyers as Tyler Heidt put a wrister on net a minute later and Burnam made a toe save at full stretch. The Flyers were back in front in the 11^th minute when Massimo Carozza showed great strength to win a puck battle down the right wing and he passed the puck to Chiodo who took the puck to the net before deking Burnam and slotting it intro the empty net. Carozza came close to extending the lead in the 13^th minute when his shot caught Burnam on the shoulder but the Flyers were back on the penalty kill a minute later when Chiodo was given the gate for a trip. The Devils struggled to get much set up that was dangerous and their best effort came from a big shot by Donaghey which Owen dealt with comfortably. The Flyers doubled their lead in the 17^th minute when Olivier LeBlanc let a slapshot go from the blueline which whistled wide of the net hit the backboards and Stallard was first to jump on the loose puck and bury it behind Burnam. The final shot of the period came from Brodie Kay in the 19^th minute which Burnam made a kick save on.

The opening few minutes of the second period saw the teams trade rushes as the game continued to be a bit of a track meet. Owen made the first big save in the 24th minute when he denied Ben Davies. He followed that up in the 25^th minute with a huge pad save on Brett Perlini as the Devils had an odd man rush. The Devils went back on the power play in the 26^th minute as Drake Pilon was called for holding the stick and the visitors made their numerical advantage count when Gleason Fournier beat Owen cleanly through the five hole with a wicked shot from the high slot. Sanford had an attempt a minute later turned away by Owen and in the 30^th minute the home side had their two goal lead back again when Daniel Krenželok put the puck on net and Carozza got a deflection on it to send to over the shoulder of Burnam. The Devils kept pushing and they had the Flyers hemmed in more and more as the period progressed and it was little surprise when their pressure paid dividends in the 35^th minute when they caught the Flyers on the rush and Sam Duggan fired past Owen after the Flyers keeper had made the initial save. Owen made a shoulder save on a wrister from Joey Martin that was destined for the top corner in the 37^th minute.

As we went into the third period the next goal was always going to be crucial. Madi Dikhanbek tested Burnam inside 30 seconds as the Devils netminder blockered the puck away. Jarrod Gourley let a heavy shot go in the 42^nd minute that Owen did well to get a blocker on to deflect it wide. In the 44^th minute Owen was busy again as he made a pad save on a Davies shot and a minute later he got a blocker to a shot after Martin had split the Flyers defence. The Devils did however get level in the 46^th minute when MacDonald won a board battle behind the Flyers net and his pass out front was dispatched by Martin who was alone in the slot giving Owen no chance. The Devils had their tails up and Patrick Kyte made a pair of shot blocks in an attack in the 51st minute. The Flyers were struggling to create much down the ice in the Devils zone and with 5 minutes to play the visitors got the go ahead goal when Perlini finished another Devils rush when he picked the bottom corner on Owen from the high slot. The Flyers had a chance in the 56^th minute when Chiodo and Martineau broke with the latter taking the shot that Burnam dealt with. A minute later the same player was again denied as Burnam held his shot from the circles. As the clock wound down the Flyers desperately tried to get the puck intro the Devils zone and with 40 seconds remaining they managed to pull Owen for the extra skater but the Devils took the narrow win with Burnam making a fine pad save in the final few ticks from Martineau.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 1st December when they entertain the Sheffield Steelers – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.