The Flyers faced their first road trip outside of Scotland of the season as they visited a soldo out  SSE Arena in Belfast. The host Giants secured a win in Fife just last weekend but were also still smarting from dropping their home opener the night before against the Dundee Stars. The home side were still missing Sam Jones and Josh Roach but welcomed back Brandon Whistle. For the Flyers they were still without the injured Vlastimil Dostálek and Justin Ducharme but Aiden Wilson made his first start of the season.

It was a strong opening shift from the Giants top line as they hemmed the Flyers into their own zone for over a minute. In the 2^nd minute on a Giants breakout Bo Hanson was the trailing man and he had all sorts of time as he lined up a shot from the circles but Shane Owen made a solid blocker save. Ther Fife keeper was happy to glove the puck in the 3^rd minute as the Giants had the visitors running around in their own zone. The Fife top line helped relieve the pressure on the next shift as they held the puck in the Giants zone without troubling Jackson Whistle however. Marcus Eriksson was in tight on Owen in the 6^th minute as he took away the bottom of the net. Moments later however the Giants pressure eventually paid dividends as Jordan Kawaguchi toe dragged the puck around his marker and laid it into the crease for Patrick Grasso who had a slam dunk at 5:58. The Giants went on the games first man advantage in the 10^th minute as Johan Porsberger was called for slashing. The Fife penalty kill was doing a good job until late on as the puck was worked back up to the blue line and from a central position Mike Lee snipped the top corner over the glove of Owen at 10:44. The home side were back on the power play in the 13^th minute as Didrik Svendsen sat for interference in the neutral zone. Giants were deliberate with their possession in the Fife zone but were unable to get any shots of note through on Owen with Porsberger making one superb shot block on Scott Conway as the Flyers returned to full strength. Jake Gaudet walked out from behind the nets in the 16^th minute but Owen made a pad save. In the 19^th minute Whistle faced only his second shot of the period as he was square to Josh Winquist’s one timer as the Flyers finished the period with a little pressure around the Giants net.

Whistle was called into action to start the second period as he bobbled a shot from Andrew McLean. The Flyers kept pressing and a turnover by the Giants allowed Jeremy Masella to thread the puck to Winquist whose shot was blocked by a diving Giants defenceman and Whistle who was well out of his blue paint. The Giants struck a killer goal at 24:11 when JJ Piccinich from a bad angle somehow managed to squeeze the puck past Owen. The Flyers keeper made a huge pad save moments later to stop a one time blast by Nicolas Guay. The Giants passed up a 3 on 1 break out as Owen denied Jake Gaudet but he was helpless at 26:10 as Gaudet in the slot found the top corner. Owen then produced a save of the week contender when he first stopped Piccinich who was in all alone and his backhand attempt hit the crossbar and when the puck was returned to the Giants marksman he dived full length to somehow keep it out of the gaping net. The roof fell in on the visitors however with another two Giants goals inside 60 seconds. The first saw Jordan Kawaguchi show soft hands as he picked up a rebound from Owen and slipped the puck home and then Grasso went digging for the puck with Owen prone on the ice and managed to squeeze it home at he post. The Flyers called their time out to stem the tide. In the 33^rd minute Whistle made a stop on Ian Scheid who took the puck to the net and Owen then made another lights out stop as he denied Eriksson on a breakaway. Ethan Somoza tested Whistle in the 36^th minute and the Flyers went on their first power play a couple of minutes later. McLean had a shot from the high slot gloved by Whistle as the Giants returned to full strength. In the final seconds of the period Svendsen was penalised for tripping which left him limping off to the room.

The Flyers faced almost a full two minutes of penalty kill to start the second period and were one body short as Svendsen did not return. A minute into the man advantage the home side stretched their lead as Owen couldn’t hold a Piccinich shot and Kawaguchi was able to pounce. The Flyers went on the power play in the 43^rd minute as Brandon Whistle was called for hooking. Halfway through it became a two man advantage as Gabe Bast got the gate for a slash. Almost immediately Masella was called for a cross check in front of the Giants net as the teams skated 4 on 3. Somoza had a blast saved by Whistle as the Giants returned to 4 skaters. Nicolas Gauy then took a slashing penalty to return the Flyers to a 4 on 3 powerplay and Somoza once again threatened but the teams eventually returned to full strength without any further additions to the scoreboard. The Giants got the final goal of the evening when hard work by Kawaguchi saw him slip the puck to Grasso and with Owen scrambling he netted his hat trick goal. Owen made a shoulder save in the 55^th minute on Ciaran Long and a minute later Karl Boudrias stepped around Masella who was binned for hooking.  The Giants sent out their top powerplay unit but the Fifers kept plugging away and got the kill done. Somoza had the final shot of the night when his huge blast was swallowed by Whistle to preserve his shutout.

Pic Credits – Belfast Giants

Fife Flyers are next at home on Sunday 21st September 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.