The Flyers made their second visit of the season to the Guildford Spectrum looking to snap their 10 game winless skid. The Flames were without the defensive trio of Kyle Locke, Marcus Tesink and Sam Jones listing just four blueliners with Captain and forward Brett Ferguson filling in. The home side were also still missing long term injury victim Jake Coughler and Jake Kupsky. The Flyers listed the same roster as the previous evening with Phélix Martineau, Brodie Kay, James Spence and Fynn Page all missing.

The game started in quiet fashion with neither side threatening the goal inside the opening three minutes but that was all about to change. The Flyers took the lead in the 4^th minute when Ferguson gave the puck away in his zone and Noah Delmas picked it up before finding Ryan Foss who fed it across goal for a first Flyers goal for Charles-Antoine Paiement who beat Eamon McAdam from the edge of his crease. Jānis Voris was in action shortly after as he gloved a shot by Ryan Tait before the Guildford man was called for a holding penalty to put the Flyers on the first power play of the night. It lasted 12 seconds as Voris mishandled the puck and gave it away to a Flames player and as he slid across goal to get set for the shot he dislodged the net and was called for a delay of game. Skating 4 on 4 Voris made a pad save on Jack Jacome before the Flyers broke 2 on 1 with Lucas Chiodo supporting Foss who held on to the puck before getting the Flames goalie to bite but he lifted his backhand shot over the crossbar with plenty of net showing. With both teams back at full strength the Flames levelled the game in the 7^th minute when a Travis Brown shot from the point found its way into the top corner past a clearly unsighted Voris. The Flames should have taken the lead on their next shift but Voris produced a remarkable glove save to deny Josh Waller from the slot. In the 9^th minute Mike Crocock ragged the puck from his own blue line into the Flyers zone and went in on net before Voris kicked the puck away with his pads. The home side went on their first power play in the 11^th minute as the Flyers were called for too many men on a line change. Voris held a shot from Jacome before he poked checked the puck away from Matt Alvaro who broke in on net from a face off win. Brown had another big blast at goal that caught a piece of Voris’s glove and the puck looped over his head and nestled on top of the goal. The Flyers were back at full strength but 2 seconds later they went behind as Charlie Dodero let a fierce shot go that Voris blockered towards the corner but it landed nicely on the stick of Brett Welychka who found the gaping net. In the next shift Michael Cichy rang a shot off the Guildford goal frame and with McAdam all at sea Kieran Craig just failed to get a touch on the puck in front of net. A one timer from Tait in the 16^th minute just missed the top corner but moments later he was able to capitalise on slack play coming out of the zone by the Flyers who turned the puck over and he drove the puck home inside the post on the stick side of Voris. Cichy almost pulled one back on the restart and McAdam did well to stand firm to deny Craig who tried to stuff the puck home from close range. In the 18^th minute Voris snagged an Alvaro shot with his glove. Noah Delmas then had a shot just inside the blueline that McAdam blocked with Foss screening and in the final minute Tait went streaking down the right wing but fired wildly over the net.

The Flyers survived an almighty scramble around their net in the 22^nd minute with the puck eventually landing in the glove of Voris. A minute later and Paiement latched on to a high looping dump out and he got in behind the Flames defence before being hooked and the officials called a penalty shot. The Flyers forward skated in on McAdam slowly and tried to beat the netminder glove side but was denied by the mitt. In the 24^th minute Delmas was up with the play and his shot whistled just past the post and from the follow up play Foss tried to walk around McAdam but his stick was tied up by Ferguson to prevent the shot. Tait had a shot in the 25^th minute that went in and out of the glove of Voris and at the other end a pass from Chiodo found Patrick Kyte at the back post but he couldn’t hit the target. The Flames were let off the hook again in the 26^th minute when Chiodo showed great hands to deke his way around McAdam and with an open goal his shot hit the far post and popped back up onto the pads behind McAdam. The officials checked the video review but clearly the puck hadn’t crossed the line. A minute later and the Flames extended their lead when a Brown shot from the blue line was saved by the pad of Voris but Josh Waller was quickest to react to the rebound and fire it home. McAdam had difficulty dealing with an Olivier LeBlanc shot in the 31^st minute and had to scramble the puck away. Jacome was called for holding in the 32^nd minute as Flyers went on another man advantage. Crocock made a huge shot block early on from a one timer by Cichy but despite patient play from the Flyers they couldn’t penetrate the Flames defence as they completed the kill. Almost immediately the Flames went on the power play as Jordan Stallard shot the puck over the glass for delay of game. LeBlanc did well defensively to take the stick away from Ferguson and Welychka missed the net from a good position as the Flames failed to capitalise. The home side added to their lead in the 38^th minute when Lewis Hook gained the zone and let a shot go that crept inside the post with Voris in the butterfly position. The scoreline was stretched to 6-1 as we entered the final minute when Voris made the initial save on Ethan Strang who then managed to shovel the puck up into the air and as it landed in the crease Daniel Catenacci won the battle to stuff the puck into the net.

Voris made a huge right pad save on a one timer from Tait who was parked in the high slot in the 42^nd minute. A couple of minutes later almost an identical save from the visiting netminder denied Strang. In the 46^th minute the Flyers had the puck in the net as Tyler Heidt fired one just inside the post on the stick side of McAdam. The Flames used their Coaches Challenge and in the review it was deemed that the skate of Craig made some contact with McAdam’s skate outside of the blue paint and the goal was washed out. In the 49^th minute McAdam made a save from Stallard and moments later the Flames added a 7^th goal when Brown played a reverse pass behind the net to find Strang who buried a beauty top shelf on Voris. Voris made another save of the week contender in the 52^nd minute when he dived post to post to stop a shot by Welychka. The Flyers were out of luck again in the 54^th minute when Kyte steadied himself for a shot from the circles and he went to pick the top corner only to see the puck hit the inside of the post and bounce out. Ferguson had all sorts of time in the 55^th minute to get a shot away on Voris but he was stripped of the puck and then tripped Foss. The Flyers power play saw Stallard on the edge of the Flames crease be denied by McAdam but the Flames the rest of the way came up with a comfortable kill. In the 58^th minute Strang fired just over and in the final minute Charlie Curti struck iron for the hosts as they ran out comfortable winners.

Pic Credits – John Uwins

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Saturday 11th January when they entertain the Dundee Stars – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.