The Flyers made their first trip of the season to Nottingham to meet he table topping Panthers. The one change to their line up from the previous night was the omission of Captain Garet Hunt with the injured pair of Jeremy Masella and Justin Ducharme also scratched. The Panthers had some selection problems of their own with Jordan Kelsall, Mitch Fossier, Brendan Haris and Didrik Henbrant all missing but they introduced Jakob Stridsberg into their line up for his debut.

Inside the opening 60 seconds the Panthers almost got unluck withy the bounce of the puck in their end which ended up squirting out in front of Kevin Carr’s net but the goalie was alert and poked the puck away before Johan Porsberger could take advantage. On Teddy Bear toss night the home side opened the scoring at 2:38 when Chase Pearson walked around Ian Scheid and roofed the puck over Shane Owen’s blocker to have the bears rain down on the ice. After about 10 minutes the game got back underway and in the 3^rd minute a diving Ethan Somoza made a shot block on a blast by Matthew Marcinew. In the 5^th minute Owen made a blocker save on a Cooper Zech shot from the slot as he Fife goalie buckled up for a busy night. A give and go in the 8^th minute create a chance for Tim Doherty but Owen was well positioned to save and a minute later a fine leg extension save denied Ross Armour as the Panthers laid siege to the Fife goal. In the 11th minute Simon Despres threw a check along the boards and his leading arm caught Bryan Lemos on the face. The officials conferred then reviewed the incident on screen before assessing a major penalty for elbowing with Despres then done for the night. Owen made a succession of saves during the 5 minute penalty kill as he stopped a David Noel drive from the blueline with his pad then he hung on to a slapshot by Marcinew. Zech had a backhand shot well tracked by the Fife goalie who was able to hang on then Owen held a Matt Spencer rip to his chest. In the final 30 seconds the Flyers broke with Giordano Finoro centering from the right wing and the puck fell for Anton Karlsson but Carr made a reflex stop to prevent the short handed goal as the Flyers then completed their penalty kill. The Flyers were almost victims of a weird bounce in the 18^th minute as the puck came out unexpectedly in front of Owen but the chance was lost as the Panthers tried to pass the puck around the keeper.

In the 22^nd minute the Panthers almost doubled their lead but a Zech shot from the left circles pinged off the crossbar. Josh Tetwlow then did very well to break up a 2 on 1 break with Mason Alderson and Logan Neilson before the Panthers went the other way and Owen made a glove save on Ollie Betteridge. In the 24^th minute the Flyers were short handed again as Ben Brown was binned for a cross check. Somoza had another diving shot block and Owen a couple of routine saves as the Flyers completed the kill unscathed. The Flyers couldn’t get the puck to bounce for then around the Panthers net in the 27^th minute and moments later Carr made a solid stop to deny Finoro. The Panthers were penalised in the 32^nd minute with Marcinew going to the box for hooking. A one timer from Scheid from just inside the blueline was swallowed by Carr before he made stops on Somoza and Scheid again as the Panthers returned to full strength. In the 34^th minute Owen made a pad save on Spencer before Tetlow saw his shot ring off the outside of the post. In the 35^th minute Owen got a shoulder on a Betteridge shot as he came around the net and he then snagged a Pearson backhand that came through traffic. The Panthers did however extend their lead at 37:48 with a first ever goal for the Panthers by Finlay Ulrick who was able to tip a Noel shot on the edge of the crease giving Owen no chance.

The Panthers almost had another to start the third period but Pearson saw his stick break with the net gaping. The Flyers transitioned down ice and Carr made a big save to deny Somoza who went to the net. Owen made another great save in the 42nd minute as he stopped a Matt Alfaro shot from the slot. In the 45^th minute the Fife keeper made a breathtaking save as he firstly stopped Noel, then Doherty and then candidate save of the week as he threw out an arm in desperation to stop Armour who simply shook his head. The Flyers went back on the powerplay in the 46^th minute as Marcinew was called for roughing. Carr made a pad save from a Porsberger shot from the bumper position but the puck was recycled and Anton Karlsson fired the puck into the slot where Somoza got a nice redirection on it to flick it up over Carr and into the roof of the net. In the 50^th minute the visitors went close again with Somoza almost connecting with Josh Winquist who had gone to the net. The Panthers however sealed the game with two quick fire goals. The first at 51:41 came after Owen made a save on a Spencer shot from the point but Doherty was on hand to net the rebound before Spencer 20 seconds later wired a missile shot over the blocker of Owen. In the 53^rd minute Neilson had a breakaway but Carr came out and gave him nothing to shoot at. The Panthers went on the powerplay in the 55^th minute as Scheid got the gate for a hook. Owen was busy again as he denied Zech then Hilderman and Noel who both had one timers turned away. The Flyers completed the kill and the Panthers ran down the clock

Pic Credits – Nottingham Panthers

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Saturday 20th December when they entertain the Glasgow Clan – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.