The Fifers welcomed the Nottingham Panthers for their final visit of the season. The home side added Ben Brown and Joe Lynch back into the lineup and gave Jānis Voris the start in net but were still without Phélix Martineau, Patrick Kyte, Aiden Wilson, James Spence and Cameron Kenny. The Panthers scratched Hugo Roy and started Jason Grande in net who was looking to make it three shutouts in a row in games played this week.

The Flyers opened brightly and 30 seconds in a nice set up by Evan MacKinnon released Kieran Craig who took the puck to the net but Grande shut him down. Voris was also in the game in the opening minute when he came up with a great poke check to knock the puck clear to stop a dangerous Panthers move. In the 3^rd minute Logan Neilson found himself all alone in the slot but Voris reacted well to save his shot and not give up a rebound. At the other end a close in tip by Massimo Carozza was well dealt with by Grande. The Panthers opened the scoring moments later when Jaako Niskala skated in from the blueline with the puck and he rifled it low into the bottom corner past Voris from the circles. The Flyers survived a scramble in their crease in the 6^th minute and in the 9^th minute Mitchell Fossier hit the outside frame of the goal with space on Voris’s short side. The Flyers responded in the 11^th minute with a big shot from the blue line by Olivier LeBlanc and Grande appeared not to see it until the puck hit him. Voris denied Sam Herr in the 13^th minute with a shot that was labelled for the far bottom corner. The Flyers transitioned quickly in the 14^th minute and Charles-Antoine Paiement was stopped by the Panthers keeper at close quarters and Grande was alert again on the next shift as he made a save on Carozza. A shot by Herr in the 17^th went in and out of the glove of Voris and following up Tim Doherty managed to direct the puck past the wide open net.

Voris was first in action in the second period when he held his short side post as Didrik Henbrant drove the net. The Panthers controlled most of the play in the early stages and had the Flyers hemmed in for spells but most of the shots directed on the Flyers goal came from the perimeter. Voris was at full stretch in the 26^th minute as he stopped Jordan Kelsall. The Flyers first threat on the visitors goal in the period came in the 32^nd minute as Austin Farley crashed the net but Grande did well to hold on to the puck and avert the danger. A minute later and Voris made a fine stop on a Doherty shot from the slot. In the 34^th minute Grande once again appeared not to track the puck which came from distance and hit his pads without him reacting. The Panthers doubled their lead in the 35^th minute when the Flyers were guilty of turning over the puck in their own zone and Voris was called upon to make a great save on Fossier before the puck was recycled and fed to Matt Spencer and from the high slot his shot nestled in the bottom corner of the net. The Flyers went on the first power play of the game in the 36th minute when Davis Bunz was called for a high stick. Tyler Heidt had a shot go in and out of the glove of Grande who then made saves on Farley and Jordan Stallard to complete the kill for the visitors. The Flyers were soon back on the man advantage as Zsombor Garat got the gate for a slash on Kieran Craig. Lucas Chiodo drove the net and the Panthers keeper stood tall but the Flyers recovered the puck which went out to the blue line and Olivier Leblanc put it on net with Craig getting a tip in the slot to redirect it past Grande just inside his post.

In the 42^nd minute Fossier had some time and space at the side of the Flyers goal and he tried to out wait Voris who stayed with him to make the block. A minute later and the Flyers keeper got a piece of the puck off his glove as Matt Alfaro cruised into the slot and let a shot go. A streaking Henbrant was stopped by Voris in the 45^th minute just before Stallard ripped a shot on Grande that caught the top of the crossbar. The Flyers went back on the power play in the 48^th minute as Josh Tetlow was guilty of a hold on Craig in behind his net. The Flyers controlled the opening minute of the man advantage and Heidt saw Grande get a glove on his shot before smothering the puck to halt play. Late on Stallard had a shot saved as the Panthers returned to full strength. Herr from the slot forced a blocker save from Voris in the 51^st minute. The Flyers came close in the 53^rd minute with a scramble around the Panthers net before Paiement fired the puck wide of the target with net available to aim for. The Panthers got their first power play of the game in the 55th minute when Heidt was called for hooking. A shot tipped by Herr was matched by a fine Voris save but the Flyers found themselves two men down a minute in as Michael Cichy was called for interference. The Flyers almost killed the 5 on 3 but with 2 seconds remaining they were penalised again when Carozza was binned for a slash. This time the Panthers made the two man advantage count as Herr trickled one five hole on Voris from the top of his crease to make it a two goal game. The Flyers still had a 5 on 4 penalty to kill which they managed to do and with 96 seconds left they called their time out. Having won the draw they pulled Voris for the extra skater but couldn’t get anything on the Panthers net and the game was iced when Herr found the empty net from the neutral zone.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Wednesday 5th March 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.