The Clan were visitors to Kirkcaldy for the final meeting between the two sides this season, the fits team that the Flyers have wrapped up their season series with this term with the visitors looking to sweep their rivals. Missing from the home line up were Patrick Kyte, Aiden Wison, Cam Kenny and James Spence with Joe Lynch coming back onto the bench.  The Clan scratched Mitchell Heard, Alex Forbes and Nick Prkusic with Lucas Brine getting the start in net.

It was a fast paced opening 4 minutes to the game with Shane Owen being called upon to make a few routine saves whilst the Flyers had yet to call Brine into action. Deven Sideroff got a touch on  shot from the blue line by Simon Despres and Owen did well to get a piece of it before the puck was scrambled clear. Owen made the first of several big stops throughout the game in the 5^th minute when he denied Tyler McLellan. Moments later and Brine was in the game as Charles-Antoine Paiement stole in behind the Clan defence but the keeper shut him down. The Clan transitioned instantly the other way and Owen absolutely robbed Rylan Schwartz with a glove save. Paiement looked spritely again in the 6^th minute as he darted through the Clan rearguard and Brine was forced to make a solid pad save. The teams were going end to end at this point trading chances and Schwartz put the puck on net looking for a touch from Keaton Jameson but the Flyers managed to scramble it clear. In the 8^th minute Owen was sharp again when a shot from the blueline by Darien Kielb changed direction off a Flyers skate but the Fife keeper kept it out. Jordan Stallard had a shot from the circles in the 9^th minute that Brine blockered away and the Clan keeper was in action  again in the 11^th minute when he had to fight off a shot by Daniel Krenželok. Owen came up with a pad save in the 12^th minute to thwart Liam Finlay and moments later the Flyers went on the first powerplay of the game as Cole Ully was binned for tripping. The Flyers man advantage generated a couple of good looks and Brine swallowed a shot from Massimo Carozza as the visitors were able to return to strength unscathed. Ully straight out of the box set up a 2 on 1 attack and he tried to feed the puck to Chris McKay who drove the net but Owen came up with a shoulder save. Lucas Chiodo was next to test Brine who made a blocker save in the 15^th minute. A minute later and Kielb found all sorts of time and space but Owen came up big again with a pad save. The Flyers opened the scoring shortly after when Phélix Martineau carried the puck down the left wing before slipping it inside to Paiement who fired a perfect shot in off the post on the stick side on Brine. With 90 seconds to go Ully was in on Owen who made another pad save. In the final minute Cade Neilson and Olivier Leblanc collided along the boards with the Flyers captain going down to the ice. Martineau engaged Neilson for the hit. The played was reviewed with Neilson being assessed a 5 minute major for an elbow along with the offsetting minors for him and Martineau for roughing. LeBlanc left the game and wouldn’t return until the later part of the 2^nd period.  The Flyers couldn’t get anything set up on the power play for the remainder of the period.

The Flyers started the second period with 4 minutes of powerplay time and after a sustained spell of puck cycling Carozza took a shot which pinged the pipe as Brine dislodged the goal. With a minute left on the man advantage a shot from distance by Tyler Heidt wasn’t tracked by Brine but he got lucky as the puck eventually ended up between his pads as he lay prone on the ice. In the last few seconds of the power play the visitors struck for a shorthanded goal as Jameson carried the puck down the left wing and passed to Felix Pare who buried the chance on a sprawling Owen. In the 26^th minute Owen shut down McLellan on the rush and a minute later Lucas Chiodo danced into the Clan zone and his backhand on a spinorama was held by Brine. The Clan broke 3 on 2 in the 29th minute but Owen held on to a high shot by Kielb. In the 30^th minute Ben Brown shot the puck over the glass and was assessed a delay of game penalty. The Clan took full advantage of their power play as Stevne Seigo sent a pass over to the back post for McLellan to make no mistake. On the restart Owen had to fight off a shot by Schwartz moments before Kielb was given the gate for a slash to put the Flyers back on the power play. A nice set up by Martineau from behind the net found Kieran Craig in the slot but Brine was square to the shot to hold on. Owen then had to come up with a poke check to break up another short handed chance as the Clan returned to full strength.  The Clan were back on then power play in the 35^th minute when Craig was penalised for cross checking Ully. Owen made one big blocker save but otherwise the Clan were held to the perimeter as the Flyers completed the kill. Finlay had plenty of time in the 37^th minute but shot wide of the target and the period ended with Clan having a trio of chances. Firstly Owen made a superb save when Despres fed the puck to the back stick then Finlay slid a shot wide of the target before Owen then denied Sideroff in the final seconds with a big save.

The Clan had the first chance of the third period when the puck was on Neilson’s stick as he went in on goal but fired way over the crossbar. A minute later and Brine had a comfortable save to stop a floated shot by Jonas Emmerdahl from the blueline. In the 43^rd minute Paiement and Chris Martenent clashed in the corner and both were given offsetting roughing minors. The Flyers almost leveled in the 45^th minute when Martineau went down the left wing again and his drop pass to Craig was well dealt with by Brine. In the 48^th minute LeBlanc dropped the gloves with Neilson as a carryover from the earlier incident. Neilson was given 5 for fighting and ejected from the game as was the Flyers captain who picked up a 2+5+10 for instigating. The Clan couldn’t get anything set up on their two minute power play as the Flyers completed a crucial  kill. In the 51^st minute Brine made a toe save on a Krenželok drive. The Flyers leveled the game in the 54th minute as Paiement once again drove the Clan zone and his pass to Michael Cichy was finished with a shot into the top corner of the net. The Clan almost grabbed the lead back with two minutes to go with Jameson and Martenet both going close but once again Owen was a rock in the Flyers net. With 75 seconds remaining the Flyers were called for too many men on the ice as Cichy laboured back to the bench following a big hit in the corner. The Flyers saw out the clock to take the game beyond regulation.

The overtime started with 45 seconds of 4 on 3 powerplay time for the visitors and Owen made a save on Sideroff. Incredibly the Flyers almost won it when Chiodo jumped out of the penalty box as the teams skated 4 on 4 and went coast to coast as his shot slipped through Brine but lay against the post before being scrambled clear. With a little over three minutes remaining the teams returned to 3 on 3. Owen made a pad save on a 2 on 1 break and the Flyers went the other way on their own odd man rush but couldn’t get a shot away as the game was played out at a frantic pace. With 6 seconds remaining Finlay was penalised for a cross check and the Flyers called their time out but the Clam won the face off and the teams went on to a shootout.

McLellan took the first and beat Owen on the glove side with a wrister. Cichy followed and leveled the score as he too wristed the puck past Brine on the stick side. Owen then made saves on Sideroff, Ully and Schwartz with Chiodo also being denied and Martineau missing on his attempt. Craig stepped up and beat Brine with another wrist shot on the stick side and the win was secured when Matt Berry missed with his shot to spark wild scenes of jubilation on and off the ice.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 2nd March when they entertain the Nottingham Panthers – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.