The Flames visited the Fife Ice Arena for the second time this season with a roster that had been badly hit by injuries in recent weeks. Missing from their line up were Kyle Locke, Charlie Dodero, Jake Coughler and Brett Welychka. Sean Norris departed for the NIHL in midweek and a recent addition to their line-up saw the return to familiar ice for Sam Jones. The Flyers made only one change to the team that went down to the Manchester Storm the previous evening with the addition of Ben Brown. James Spence, Janis Voris, Nikolai Shulga and Fynn Page were the scratches.

The first shots of the game came in the 3^rd minute when Jake Kupsky made a routine pad save from a long rang effort by Ryan Foss and followed that up with a solid stop on Austin Farley in the slot and also the follow up shot by Patrick Kyte. Shane Owen then had to blocker away an effort by the Flames as both goalies got into the game. A big chance came the way of the Flyers in the 7^th minute when a loose puck landed on the stick of Lucas Chiodo but his shot was deflected high by a Flames defenseman. The visitors opened the scoring in the 9^th minute when Owen failed to hold a shot from the point by Sam Jones and Ethan Strang was Johnny on the Spot to pick up the rebound and find the back of the net. In the 12^th minute Flames almost doubled their advantage when Owen bit on a Flames shot and was out of position with the puck eventually being deflected back towards him where he was able to flop on it for a whistle. The Flames threatened again in the 14^th minute with a sweeping move that ended with Josh Waller letting a one timer go from the slot that caught metal and bounced to safety. The Flyers had threatened little since the opening minutes and in the 18^th minute Phélix Martineau carried the puck over the blue line and his low shot brought a fine left pad save from Kupsky. In the final minute of the period a backdoor play saw Daniel Catenacci denied by  fantastic reaction blocker save by Owen.

The Flyers made a bright start to the second period and after 30 seconds of a sustained cycle Kupsky had to come up with a save on a big one timer from the blue line by Olivier LeBlanc. In the 21^st minute Massimo Carozza on a rush up ice forced a pad save from the Guildford goalie. The Flyers went on the powerplay in the 24^th minute when Lewis Hook was binned for tripping. The Flyers had lots of possession in the Flames end of the ice but couldn’t fashion any clear sight lines to get shots on Kupsky in the net and the visitors completed the kill. Kupsky did exceptionally well in the 26th minute to get his shoulder to a wicked shot by Carozza and a minute later LeBlanc was called for a trip to send the Flames back onto the power play. Flames possessed the puck well in the Flyers zone but Owen didn’t see much action until near the end of the penalty as he flashed the leather to deny Daniel Tedesco. The Flyers returned to full strength. In the 32^nd minute the Flyers broke on an odd man rush and the Flames deflected the puck away from their net sending them the other way on a 2 on 1 which Owen stood tall on to make a vital save against Strang. The Flames were back on the power play in the 33^rd minute when Daniel Krenželok was called for cross checking. The visitors made their hosts pay when Travis Brown from the blue line fired in a shot that Hook got a deflection on to send the puck into the top corner of the net. From the restart the Flames swarmed down the ice again and the speedy Ryan Tait was denied by a huge save by Owen. In the final minute of the period the Flames added a third goal after a very unfortunate bounce for the Flyers that saw the puck hit the linesman in an attempted dump in that allowed the Flames to break down the left hand side and Daniel Catenacci picked the bottom corner on Owen.

The Flames started the third with an aggressive forecheck and cycle in the Flyers zone but the home defence kept them at bay. In the 46^th minute the Flyers had a half chance when the puck broke to Martineau all alone in the slot but he was off balance and his attempted shot on the spin went wide of the post. Kupsky was happy to freeze the puck as he covered up in the 49^th minute following a scramble around his net. The Flames appeared content to sit back and soak up the Flyers pressure and hit on the counter attack and in the 50^th minute Owen had to come up with a solid save to deny Strang who continued to get himself into good positions. Ben Brown was given more regular shifts up on the second line and in the 51^st minute he was shut down at the back post by Kupsky. The Flames broke 2 on 1 in the 53^rd minute but Strang couldn’t solve Owen as he went in all alone on the Fife goal. Austin Farley had a chance in the 54^th minute as he swiveled to get a shot in at the far post but Kupsky was alert to his effort. The Flames were back on the power play in the 56^th minute when Drake Pilon was called for cross checking. Patrick Kyte made a big shot block and Owen gloved a long range blast by Jones as the Flyers completed the kill and tried to break the shutout in the final two minutes. The Flames held strong and added another goal in the final 30 seconds when the puck was coughed up in the neutral zone allowing Jack Jacome to go in alone on Owen who despite getting a piece of the puck couldn’t stop it from trickling in behind him.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 15th December when they entertain the Coventry Blaze – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.