The Flyers travelled to Belfast for the first of their two back to back meetings with the Giants in four days. This was essentially the Giants game in hand as they looked to stretch their lead at the top of the standings to three and four points over the Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers respectively. The hosts were still missing long term injury victim Joe Cassetti and also scratched Karl Boudrais, Kyle Osterberg and Elijiah Barriga. For the Flyers they were without Shane Owen, Olivier LeBlanc and Aiden Wilson through injury and also scratched James Spence and Joe Lynch.

In the opening minute Voris was called into action as he made an initial save on Mike Lee and tracked the puck to then deny Ben Lake. The Flyers goalie was sharp again the 2^nd minute when he made a stop on Pierre-Olivier Morin from the low slot and then on the following shift Scott Conway from the circles saw his shot saved by Voris. Belfast forced another save moments later when Josh Roach tested Voris from distance but the visitors were on the powerplay shortly after when Lake was binned for tripping Charles-Antoine Paiement. The Flyers won the face off and controlled the puck throughout their man advantage. Jackson Whistle saw his first rubber when he made a save from a point shot by Tyler Heidt and followed that up to make a stop on Phélix Martineau. The Flyers continued to cycle the puck and they opened the scoring when Jordan Stallard fed the puck over to Michael Cichy who had lots of net to aim at to beat Whistle. Belfast answered this with Roach going close with a drive from the slot but the visitoprs almost doubled their lead in the 6^th minute when Austin Farley got the puck on his stick following a giveaway by the Giants in their own zone and he drew Whistle but clanked the post with his backhand. A minute later however and the Flyers did get a second when Martineau played a give and go in neutral ice and went down the right wing before he drove the net and put his backhand five hole on Whistle. The Giants squandered another chance in the 8^th minute when Jordan Kawaguchi fired wide from a good position. In the 10^th minute Morin snapped a shot on goal that pinged the crossbar. A minute later and Voris made another save when he stopped a JJ Piccinich effort. Cichy tested Whistle in the 12^th minute with a shot from the circles that the Giants keeper swallowed. Voris then made a toe save on a Bobo Carpenter shot before the Giants went on the powerplay as Patrick Kyte was penalised for a slash. Mark Cooper had the first chance as he tried to draw the puck around Voris but he kept his pad tight against the post but could do nothing moments later to prevent the leveler as Gabe Bast picked the top corner glove side from an angle. Kawaguchi was denied by a fine reaction pad save in the 14^th minute but the Giants were back on terms in the 15^th minute when Roach found Conway in the slot and his wrister beat Voris just inside the post on the glove side. In the 17^th minute Ciaran Long fed Conway and this time Voris snagged his shot and a minute later Kawaguchi went close as the Giants hit metalwork again. In the final 90 seconds of the period the Giants took the lead as Piccinich collected the puck up on the blueline and he stepped down the slot to wrist a shot stick side on Voris. In the final seconds Cooper was again denied by the visiting keeper as he got a glove on his shot as he cut across the crease.

The Giants took control of the game in the opening five minutes of the middle period as they found the net four times. The first after just 10 seconds was from JJ Piccinich who shot from the high slot and Voris didn’t react. In the 22^nd minute Voris was beaten again as Carpenter put the puck on net from the half wall and the Fife keeper deep in his net again didn’t seem to track it. The Giants went on the powerplay in the 23^rd minute as Kieran Craig got the gate for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass. It took only 30 seconds for the Giants to make their advantage count as JJ Piccinich got the final touch on a scramble around the lip of Voris’s crease with Conway also lurking. In the 25^th minute Lee found Grant Mismash who cruised into the slot and gave Voris no chance which forced Johnny Curran to call his timeout to try to stop the bleeding. Voris made a desperation save in the 27^th minute as he sprawled to deny Long. A minute later and Voris fought off a shot by Lake before he flashed the glove to snag a shot from Kawaguchi. In the 29^th minute Farley had a chance in the low slot but he couldn’t hit the target with Whistle scrambling. The Belfast goalie was almost caught out by a spinorama effort by Lucas Chiodo in the 31^st minute and the Flyers went back on the power play as Morin was called for interference. Whistle made a glove save on Heidt but just over halfway through the man advantage the Flyers were called for a face off violation by Craig to have the teams skate 4 on 4. The Giants then had a 42 second power play but the Flyers completed the kill. A point shot by Brodie Kay in the 34^th minute saw Whistle cough up a rebound but with net showing Stallard elected to try and find Farley but the puck was deflected clear. Moments later Kyte and Lake dropped the gloves in a spirited bout with both getting five minutes for fighting. Voris made a shoulder save on Cooper in the 36^th minute but a minute later the Giants increased their lead when Carpenter was down low at the side of the net and he managed to stuff the puck under Voris. The Flyers pulled a goal back in the 38^th minute when a quick up by Massimo Carozza sprung Craig who skated in from the neutral zone to beat Whistle on the stick side. Giants got another in the final minute when a shot from the blueline by Long struck Kawaguchi who was standing in front of Voris and the puck spun into the net.

The Giants hit double figures in the 44^th minute when a lofted puck into neutral ice bounced in favour of the Giants and Kawaguchi skated in on Voris to beat him at his near post with a backhand stuff shot. In the 45^th minute Whistle had to be alert to make a fine save on a redirect from Stallard from the slot. A minute later and the Flyers had another chance when the Giants lost the puck in their own zone and Cichy from behind the net fed the puck out front to Chiodo but Whistle stood tall to make the save. The Giants keeper blockered away a shot from the circles from Paiement in the 48^th minute and the Flyers returned to the powerplay in the 49^th minute as Lake was penalised for a slash on Voris. The Flyers only chance came when Whistle let out a rebound from a Cichy shot but he recovered well to make the stop on the follow up shot by Chiodo and the Giants returned to full strength. The Giants were in penalty trouble again in the 52^nd minute as Morin went to the box again for a trip but the home side completed their kill without any real danger on Whistle’s net. Almost immediately after returning to full strength David Goodwin set up Morin at the top of the circles but Voris was out at the edge of his crease to make the save. The Flyers were back on the powerplay in the 55^th minute when Carpenter left the knee in on a check on Kay and the Flyers got a consolation goal when Chiodo found Martineau and his fanned shot bobbled and bounced in front of Whistle before Cichy got his stick on it to poke it home. With 90 seconds to go the Ginats went on the man advantage as Farley got the gate for hooking but the clock ran down without any further scoring.

Pic Credits – Belfast Giants

Fife Flyers are next at home on Sunday 30th March when they entertain the Sheffield Steelers – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.