The Flyers made the first long trip of the season to Wales to meet the Devils as the club’s met in successive weekends with the Devils having won in a lopsided encounter 7 days ago in Kirkcaldy. The visitors were still without a host of injured bodies with Justin Ducharme, Mason Alderson, Jeremy Masella and Vlastimil Dostalek all on the sidelines. The Devils were marking Mark Richardson’s all time EIHL appearance record in this game and they were without Riley Brandt, Bayley Harewood and Nolan Yaremko.

Inside the opening 30 seconds the Flyers were on the front foot as Ian Scheid found space in the high slot and his shot was blocked by a Devils defenceman. In the 2^nd minute Ethan Somoza continued the visitors bright start as he went down the right wing and fired in a shot that brought out a solid stop by Ben Bowns. Moments later the Devils had their first real chance as Shane Owen shut down Josh MacDopnald from close range. In the 3^rd minute Owen dealt well with a Mosey shot that was tipped in front of him and that sort of play would be a regular feature throughout the night for the home side. Porsberger then went to the net and he was inches away from directing the puck in at the far post with Bowns at full stretch. In the 7^th minute Ryan Barrow won a board battle and stepped out front with the puck but Owen was alert to the danger. A minute later and the Devils had an odd man rush as Jaka Sturm was left at the other end of the ice struggling to get back to his skates and Owen just got his glove on a shot from the centre slot from Joey Martin to divert the puck into the corner. The Devils went closer still in the 12^th minute with a Brandon Estes wrist shot that grazed the crossbar. Simon Despres had an effort in the 14^th minute from up top that Bowns tracked and held. The Devils opened the scoring at 14:05 when MacDonald slipped the puck through for Kristoff Kontos to go in alone on Owen at speed and he picked the five hole. In the subsequent shift Somoza tested Bowns who snagged the puck with his glove. In the 16^th minute Bowns saved a shot from Despres and the puck landed at the stick of Josh Winquist but he couldn’t knock it into the gaping goal with the Devils goalie scrambling. Ryan Barrow drove the net in the 18^th minute but Owen again stood his ground. Owen then denied Brett Perlini with a shoulder save as we approached the final minute. Bowns then had to be alert to stop a shot from Garet Hunt and just before the buzzer Somoza saved a certain goal as Kohen Olischefski drew the puck around Owen and with the net gaping the Flyers forward got a stick on the shot from Tyson Helgesen to deflect it up onto the crossbar and over the net.

The Devils started the second period by trapping the Flyers deep in their own zone for extended time. In the 25^th minute the Devils again clanked iron as a blast from Perlini caught the inside of the post and bounced clear. Devils continued to dominate possession and in an extended shift for the Flyers third line the Devils were able to make two whole line changes before the Flyers happily saw the puck go dead to allow a change of personnel. The Devils went on the first powerplay of the game in the 29th minute as Porsberger was given a tripping call in the neutral zone. The Flyers kept the Devils mainly to the outside as the home side were methodical in their set up but the kill was completed with a great sliding block by Andrew McLean as the visitors returned to full strength. In the 33^rd minute the Devils nearly had another goal as Owen was again dragged out of position by patient puck movement but Cole Sanford under pressure from Jonas Emmerdahl could not get enough on the puck to steer it into the open net. Moments later Winquist played the puck through for Porsberger and Jimmy Oligny was assessed a hooking call to put the Flyers on the powerplay. The Flyers controlled the puck from the face off in the Devils zone and Bowns made one very good save on Winquist as the Devils completed the kill unscathed. In the 35^th minute the Flyers somehow escaped an amazing scrambled around their net with Owen deflecting the puck onto the crossbar with his shoulder before he gloved the puck in the melee to stop play. The home pressure eventually told however with a second Devils goal at 36:09 as Olischefski again got Owen out of position and the puck went to Martin who had a wide open net to hit. In the 37^th minute Porsberger and Cedric Lacroix tangled along the boards before Helgesen jumped in with the Devils man getting a roughing minor for his troubles. The Flyers couldn’t get anything set up on their man advantage until the final few seconds when Bowns juggled a shot from Scheid. In the final minute Lacroix was denied by Owen.

The Devils killed the game with an early goal in the final period as Olischefski going across the slot tipped a shot by Gleason Fournier and Owen had no chance. In the 43^rd minute MacDonald cruising down the slot put a pass from Barrow past the post. The Flyers were rarely seen in the Devils end of the ice but in the 46^th minute Hunt had a chance all alone on front of Bowns who made a huge stop. The Devils extended their lead at 48:37 when Olischefski was the recipient of a nice three way play that opened up the Flyers defence and again Owen could do little to prevent the goal. Bowns stopped a shot from Porsberger at the circles in the 50^th minute. Owen was again in action in the 52^nd minute as he saved a shot from the high slot as Devils once again carried all of the momentum. In the 53^rd minute Sanford had all sorts of time below the circles but Owen was way out of his paint to cut down the angle and hang on to the puck. In the 55th minute an Estes shot from distance pinged the crossbar with Owen unsighted but the Devils added another at 57:20 when Helgesen was in the slot to redirect a shot from Brett Ferguson past Owen. In the final minute another tipped shot by the Devils saw Owen hang on as the clock expired.

Pic Credits – Cardiff Devils

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 30th November 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.