It was the second meeting of the teams this season with the first for the Flyers on the long trek to Surrey. The home side were a little down on numbers as imports Sean Comrie, Jake Gravelle and Jake Kupsky were all scratched along with a host of the Flames British core. The Flyers had debutant Logan Neilson in their line up as well as the return from injury of Mason Alderson and Vlastimil Dostalek. Jaka Sturm was scratched along with the injured pair of Justin Ducharme and Jeremy Masella who joined on the sidelines by Keaton Jameson.

We were well into the second minute of play before the first shot on goal was registered and Shane Owen was called upon to stick away an effort from Matt Alvaro. Moments later Alderson and Neilson combined but the debutant had his shot deflected away from net by a Flames stick. In the 5^th minute Giordano Finoro got some free space in the Flames zone but Justin Fazio made the stick save. A minute later and Marcus Tesink put the puck on the Flyers net from the blueline but through traffic Owen was able to hang on to the puck. In the 7^th minute Josh Winquist collected the puck in the neutral zone before gaining he Flames zone and as he cut into the slot he tried to beat Fazio on the backhand but was denied. The Flames keeper in the next minute blockered away a shot from Ryan Nicholson and as the Flames broke out the Flyers were called for the games first penalty as Johan Porsberger went to the box for hooking. Finoro had a short handed break but his shot was blocked and the Flames with an odd man transitioned the other way and Alvaro at the back door just missed the puck with a wide open net.  The Flyers returned to full strength unscathed and Jonas Emmerdahl joined the rush in the 12^th minute but Fazio showed a quick glove to snag his snapshot. On the following shift Winquist teed up Ethan Somoza from the circles but Fazio was able to deflect the puck past the post. Alvaro threatened again for the home side in the 13^th minute as he stepped around a sliding Simon Despres but Owen stayed tall and made the save with his mask. Porsberger broke in behind the Flames defence in the 14^th minute and elected  a slapshot but wired the puck wide of the net. Owen was in great form a minute later with a pad save on Nick Seitz who was in the low slot. In the final minute Josh Nixon drove the net and tried to go short side on Owen who held his post.

Inside the opening minute of the second period Finoro from the right circles fanned on his first shot but on his second attempt Fazio hugged the post. In the 23^rd minute Tesink had a great chance all alone in the slot as he stepped in from the blue line but he fired wide before the visitor were called for too many men and the hosts went back on the powerplay. Just 30 seconds in the Flames were called for the same infraction as the teams skated 4 on4. The Flyers returned to full strength for a short powerplay but couldn’t get anything set up as the Flames completed the kill. The visitors had a let off in the 27^th minute as Seitz from the high slot saw his shot go past an unsighted Own but ping the crossbar. Just seconds later however the Flames were ahead as Jake Coughler had time to measure a shot from the bottom of the right circles over the glove of Owen at 27:01. The Flames scored again 16 seconds later as Alvaro cruising through the slot tipped a shot pass from Tesink past Owen. In the 30^th minute the Flames coughed up the puck in their own zone and Winquist was stopped by a fine toe  save by Fazio. Alderson was called for a slash as the Flyers survived almost a minute of the delayed penalty call before the Flames went on another powerplay. This time they made the visitors pay as Seitz was able to slip a loose puck from below the goal line out front to an unmarked Cole Ully who beat Owen through the five hole. Within 11 seconds the Flyers crucially answered back as Garet Hunt fired the puck from the boards and it hit Somoza in the slot before Winquist fired it high into the net. From the face off Alvaro was called for a high stick to return the Flyers to the man advantage and at 32:32 it was a one goal game as Winquist carried the puck into the Flames zone and his pass inside to Neilson was deftly flick into the top corner by the debutant. In the 35^th minute Ethan Strang found space on the right hand side to fire in a shot as the game continue to be wide open before Owen made a shoulder save than then clutched a Josh Waller shot into his logo. In the 37^th minute Seitz was in the slot but couldn’t beat Owen with a tip shot. The Flames were back on the powerplay in the 38^th minute when Simon Despres tripped Seitz as he was coming through the neutral zone. The best chance fell to Alvaro at the side of the net but he couldn’t find a hole through Owen as the Flyers returned to full strength to see out the period.

In the opening minute of the third period a mix up in the Flyers zone resulted in Somoza being called for a hook to send the home side back to the powerplay. Owen made a blocker save on Strang before Jack Jacome in the bumper position whistled the puck wildly over the bar. The Flames did however make their numerical advantage count as the puck was fed to Mathieu Gosselin in the left circle and his shot appeared to take a nick off someone on the way into the net. In the 44^th minute Owen smothered a shot from the circles by Jacome and a minute later Fazio turned away a slapshot by Despres. Ryan Nicholson fired a shot that went in and out of Fazio’s glove in the 47^th minute and a minute later Vlastimil Dostalek down the left wing centred the puck but it was airborne and Neilson couldn’t get a touch from the edge of the crease to put it on goal. In the 51^st minute Porsberger saw his shot gloved by Fazio before the game was delayed around 5 minutes for a repair to the gate at the Flyers bench. On the restart the Flames missed a glorious chance as Strang walked around Owen but had the puck slide off his stick with the net gaping. The Flames continued to push and Strang went close again in the 54^th minute with a back hand effort before the Flyers survived a scramble around their net when they knocked the puck off the line as the Flames continued to look for a tip in around the visitors crease. The game was settled at 56:16 as Gosselin got his second of the game after the Flames won puck battles below the goal line and the puck was fed out into the slot with Owen having no chance. Fazio made a save from Anton Karlsson in the final minute before Owen had the final word as he denied Tesink in the dying seconds.

Pic Credits – Guildford Flames

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 7th December 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.