The Flyers hosted Dundee for their last regular season trip to Kirkcaldy with the visitors enjoying a dominant run against the home side in recent match ups. The Stars were without Alexander Tonge, Brogan O’Brien and Jake Elmer. The Flyers gave Jānis Voris the start but Noah Delmas was added to the list of scratches as he missed his first game of the season. Brodie Kay and Kieran Craig were both game time decisions and although Kay made the bench in the first period he saw no ice time and Craig was scratched before puck drop. Aiden Wilson, James Spence and Cameron Kenny were also scratched.

The Flyers made a bright start to the game and after just 30 seconds a quick transition down ice saw Phelix Martineau feed the puck to Massimo Carozza who was in too tight on Jarrett Fiske to be able to lift the puck over the Dundee goalie. In the 2^nd minute a shot from Michael Cichy from the high slot was turned away by Fiske. The Stars went on the games first power play of the night in the 3^rd minute as Daniel Krenzelok was called for a cross check. Voris made his first save of the night when he got a pad on a Spencer Naas effort from close range. Later in the penalty kill the Flyers threaten on a 2 on 1 shorthanded bid and Carozza was again denied by Fiske. Back at full strength the Flyers went close again when an Austin Farley shot was swallowed by the Stars goalie in the 5^th minute and a minute later Farley again saw Fiske deny him with a solid save. The visitors much against the run of play opened the scoring in the 8^th minute when Philippe Sanche got in behind the Flyers defence and his shot appeared to fool Voris by going low along the ice. 40 seconds later and the Stars doubled their advantage when they scored on an odd man rush as the puck found Kameron Kielly who beat Voris on his glove side. In the 10th minute Charles-Antoine Paiement went on a solo bid down the right wing but Fiske was well positioned to make the save. A minute later and the Flyers had a let off as Brett Gravelle had all sorts of time in the slot but shot wildly over the bar. The next 90 seconds however defined the game as the roof fell in on the Flyers. A face off win by the Stars saw the puck go back to the point before setting up Spencer Naas in the slot for a one time shot that beat Voris through the five hole. Stars added a fourth when Sanche in the slot held off his marker to spin and send the puck again between the legs of Voris and the Flyers called a time out. 30 seconds later the Flyers rearguard were in complete disarray as Kielly was all alone at the side of the goal to easily beat Voris as he dinked the puck past the stranded goalie. The Flyers pulled a goal back in the 18^th minute when Fiske gave out a rebound from a Cichy shot and Lucas Chiodo was on hand to bury the puck.

The Flyers replaced Voris in net with Shane Owen to start the second period. The opening five minutes saw the Stars remain mostly in control but neither team could fashion any grade A chances. In the 27^th minute Owen did well to shrug off a shot from Kielly who was looking for his hat trick. The Fife keeper produced a good shoulder save in the 30^th minute and a couple of minutes later Fiske saw his first real action of the period as he kicked away a one time blast by Olivier LeBlanc from the point. Owen denied Xavier Pouliot from the circles who was moved up to the wing from his normal blueline duties. The Flyers reduced the deficit with a well taken goal as Chiodo went down the right wing and feathered a pass on to the stick of Ryan Foss who was going to net and he gave Fiske no chance in the 35^th minute. The Stars should have added to their lead in the 38^th minute as Brendan Harms and Naas broke 2 on 1 but the former missed a wide open net with Owen drawn out of position. In the final 30 seconds of the period the Stars went back on the power play as Tyler Heidt was given a unsportsmanlike misconduct penalty.

The Flyers started the third period with a strong kill and Owen did well in the dying seconds of the man advantage to snuff out a tic tack toe play as he trapped the puck underneath his pads and the Flyers returned to full strength. In the 43^rd minute Farley was set up and his strong shot was well saved by Fiske before the Stars went the other way and Gravelle pinged the post with a wrist shot from the slot. In the 45^th minute Chiodo saw a gap and tried to go up high on Fiske but his shot was over top of the goal. The Stars struck again in the 46^th minute when Owen let out a rebound following a shot from the point by Ben O’Connor and Harms was on hand to knock the puck into the net. 40 seconds later and the Flyers had a goal back when Patrick Kyte was up supporting the play and the puck bounced his way in the slot and he buried it past Fiske. In the 50^th minute Owen made a good pad save on a Drydn Dow shot from the circles and a minute later he made another solid stop this time on Gravelle as the Stars searched for more goals. Two further goals did arrive in the space of 20 seconds in the 54^th minute when firstly Zach Tsekos finished on a quick transition as he deked the puck around Owen and then Dow from distance saw his shot find the corner of the net on the blocker side of Owen.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 16th February when they entertain the Cardiff Devils – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.