The Flyers and Clan met for the final time this season. Glasgow were looking to move up from their 8th spot whilst for the Flyers it was another opportunity to close in on Dundee in the battle for the bottom two spots. The Clan started Liam Souliere in net and scratched Felix Pare along with the injured Deven Sideroff. The Flyers were once again missing the injured Johan Porsberger and Mason Alderson and they were joined by Rowan Mills who suffered a training accident during the week. Milan Lucic was scratched whilst Keaton Jameson returned to the lineup and Shane Owen was given the start in net.
Only 8 seconds into the game and Keaton Jameson was called for a hook on Jason Fram to put the home side on the first of many powerplays. The closest Clan came to opening the scoring was a shot from Steven Seigo that was redirected in front of Owen and the puck just missed the far side as the Flyers completed the kill. The early part of the game was littered by a series of offsides as neither team could get any flow. In the 6th minute a Joe Hazeldine one timer was knocked away by Owen. A minute later and Hugo Roy sped down the right wing and from the circles he tried to beat Owen on the short side with a wrist shot that the Fife keeper was able to hang on to. The Clan were back on the powerplay moments later as Mick Messner broke his stick on a shot from the slot and the refs called Jameson for slashing the stick. Owen had to block an early Seigo shot and he then did well to hold a shot from the point from Hazeldine as once again the visitors returned to full strength unscathed. Cole Giannandrea tried to relieve the pressure in the 10th minute but his shot was blocked by Cade Neilson. Roy went down the right wing again and tested Owen in the 11th minute. The Clan passed up a great chance in the 12th minute as they broke in on the Flyers goal 2 on 0 and Tristin Langan elected to shoot but Owen stood tall once again. The Flyers registered their first shot on goal in the 14th minute when Souliere made a block on a shot from the slot by Logan Neilson and the rebound found the stick of Jameson who rattled the post with the Clan goalie beaten. Owen made a left pad save in the 16th minute on a shot from Brady Risk in the low slot and he was sharp again in the 18th minute as he made a series of saves to deny Rylan Schwartz, Brett Neumann and Langan. With just under 2 minutes to play the Clan went back to the powerplay as Jeremy Masella was penalised for a cross check and this time the Clan made their advantage count. Messner from the mid slot area snipped the puck just inside the post on the blocker side of Owen at 18:49 to light the lamp. Into the final minute and Risk had a shot shouldered away by Owen who was beaten again at 19:25 when the puck fell to Risk from a broken play on a face off and he wired it high over the Fife goalies glove.
Clan picked up on the attack in the opening minute of the second period as Owen turned away a shot by Langan. In the 23rd minute a redirect by Messner from a face off brought a reaction save from Owen who followed that up to deny the Clan man with a pad save moments later. In the 24th minute Neilson tried to beat Souliere from a tight angle by banking the puck off the Clan goalie but the puck stayed out. The Clan added another at 24:56 with a well worked goal involving a give and go at the top of the circle and Langan passed to Fram who came in from the blueline and from the slot was able to find the net high over the glove of Owen. Ben Brown made sure Souliere was concentrating with a shot from distance in the 26th minute and a minute later Masella once again returned to the box for a cross checking infraction. Owen made a stick save on Seigo and then made stops on Messner and Neumann before Josh Winquist had a short handed bid as he stripped the pick in the neutral zone and went in on Souliere but lifted the puck over the crossbar before the Flyers returned to full strength. Souliere robbed Garet Hunt in the 29th minute as he gloved his one timer. In the 33rd minute Neumann got a step behind the Flyers defence but Owen stood tall again. Hunt then set up a chance for Justin Ducharme in the 34th minute but Souliere was quick to kick the puck away. The Clan goalie then held a tip in the low slot by Winquist in the 36th minute and a minute later the Flyers man got his stick in the feet of Roy behind his own goal to send the Clan back to the powerplay. The Clan almost made it 4 with a quick release by Risk that caught the iron and stayed out and the Flyers competed the kill without any further damage.
Ethan Somoza forced a fine glove save from Souliere in the 42nd minute and a couple of minutes later a shot from the point by Ryan Nicholson was collected by Winquist all alone in front of the net but the Clan goalie made a sprawling save. The Flyers were now creating the better chances and Somoza was denied by a pad save before Hunt tried to engage Miihkali Teppo in a fight which the Clan man wasn’t interested in. The outcome was a double minor for roughing for Hunt and a single minor for Teppo which put the Clan back on the powerplay. The refs allowed the game to restart without both a second player in the box to serve the first two minutes of the Hunt penalty and without Teppo being in the box. At the first stoppage in play with just 16 seconds of the man advantage remaining they had to rectify the situation. The Flyers killed the penalty with Owen making a big shoulder save on a Messner shot. In the 48th minute Souliere flashed the leather to snag a Nicholson shot. Moments later the Clan goalie was lights out as he got a pad on a close in effort by Andrew McLean to keep the visitors off the board. In the 50th minute Owen was square to the shooter to hold on to a Seigo one timer and a minute later he turned away a big blast by Neumann. In the 54th minute Souliere fought of a heavy shot by Ian Scheid and the Clan then went the other way with Neumann once again in alone on Owen who stood tall yet again. The Clan then padded the scoreboard with a couple of goals in less than 30 seconds. The first at 54:27 resulted in from a nice set up by Neumann who slid the puck across to Schwartz who went top shelf on Owen and at 54:49 Messner bagged his second following a horrible giveaway in the Flyers zone and Owen despite getting a piece of his shot couldn’t stop it bobbling into the net. In the 59th minute Chris McKay had a shot go off the shoulder of Owen before grazing the crossbar. In the final few seconds Owen came up with another couple of saves to deny Messner bagging his hattrick.
Pic Credits – Glasgow Clan
Flyers are next at home on Saturday 28th March when they entertain the Coventry Blaze – tickets can be bought online here: Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.
