It was the second visit of the season for the Flames to Kirkcaldy and the Surrey side were looking to make it a clean sweep on their Scottish weekend trip. The Flyers welcomed Garet Hunt back from suspension but were without the injured Josh Winquist. They also scratched Mason Alderson, Jonas Emmerdahl and Shane Owen as Christina Purboo got the start in net. The Flames were without Josh Nixon and Sam Talbot with Justin Fazio getting the start in net.
The first save of the game came after 40 seconds and it was the visitors Matthieu Gosselin that tested Purboo as he took the puck to the net but the Fife goalie stood tall. In the 3rd minute Purboo was called into action again as he blockered away shots from Ethan Strang and Gosselin. Fazio was in the game in the 4th minute as he knocked away a shot from Ben Brown from the high slot. In the 5th minute the Flyers lost David Booth to injury for the remainder of the game as he went down after releasing a shot. Simon Despres came down low from the blueline but Fazio was equal to his shot in the 6th minute. The Flames went the other way on a 2 on 1 and Lewis Hook from good position in the slot missed the net. In the 9th minute a stretch pass from the Fife defensive zone found Ethan Somoza who went in on the Flames but Fazio made a pad save. A minute later and Purboo made a left pad save to deny Tyler Busch from the low slot. Jeremy Masella from the left wing in the 11th minute forced a save from Fazio and the Flames goalie remained sharp with a save on Anton Karlsson in the 13th minute. Purboo made a couple of saves in quick succession on Cole Ully in the 15th minute and he followed that up moments later with a strong pad save on a one timer by Jamal Watson from the blueline as the teams ended the first period all square.
25 seconds into the second period the Flames went on the first powerplay of the game as Johan Porsberger was called for a hook in the neutral zone. Strang fired a shot off the outside of the goal frame and with 30 seconds left of the kill the Flames had a two man advantage as Somoza was binned for slashing the stick out of a Flames players hands. The penalty kill was strong and the Flyers returned to four skaters but at 23:01 Purboo spilled a shot through traffic from the blueline and Matt Alvaro was Johnny on the Spot to knock home the loose puck from close quarters. In the 25th minute Despres and Ian Scheid combined in the slot and Fazio sticked away the shot from the former. A minute later and Garet Hunt set up Somoza in the slot but his shot hit Fazio before being scrambled clear. Purboo had difficulty with a Watson shot in the 30th minute from the blueline and had to scramble the rebound away after a follow up attempt by Ully in the slot. In the 32nd minute Marcus Tesink with a shot from the point created a rebound through a screen but Purboo managed to scrambled the follow up from Nick Seitz away. The Fife keeper was in scramble mode again in the 34th minute as he kept Alvaro out from the side of his net. The Flames came closer in the 36th minute to doubling their lead as Seitz went through all alone but his shot struck the post and a couple of minute later Purboo turned a shot away from Ully as the Flames continued to have all of the attacking pressure. The Flyers however squeaked a game tying goal at 39:55 as Porsberger and Lucic combined and the former dragged the puck around Fazio from close range.
Into the third period and the Flames were quick to regain their lead as a shot from Strang got away from Purboo and Gosselin snapped up the rebound at 40:49. Ryan Nicholson charged up the ice with the puck in the 45th minute and as he entered the Flames zone Travis Brown was forced to interfere with him to send the Flyers on their first powerplay. Fazio took away all of the bottom of his net as the Flyers swarmed around his crease and that was the closest they came to a goal as the Flames completed the kill. In the 50th minute Logan Neilson from the right wing fired in a shot that Fazio gloved and moments later Neilson again tested the visiting keeper who was able to shrug the puck to safety. Purboo was then called into action as Alvaro went to the net and then he followed that up with a left pad save to deny Coughler. Then the roof fell in on the home side as they lost three goals in 76 seconds. At 51:53 Coughler broke free from the neutral zone and he gave Purboo no chance going bar down with a fine backhand finish. At 52:51 Strang from the slot was able to pick the corner of the net on the glove side of Purboo and at 53:09 Hook provide a top shelf finish as he picked the corner again on Purboo’s glove side. In the 55th minute Masella and Coughler tangled along the boards in front of the Fife bench and the Flyers man dropped the gloves and rained in punches. Coughler received a minor for roughing with the Flyers man also getting a roughing minor along with a major and game penalty for fighting to give the Flames a five minute powerplay. The visitors quickly took advantage as they added another goal at 55:32 when Busch was positioned at the back door to tap the puck home after some fine puck movement. The Flyers were able to kill the remainder of the penalty and the clock wound down.
Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young
Fife Flyers are next at home on Sunday 8th February 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.
