The Flyers and Giants met for the final time this season with the visitors sitting in pole position in the standings. The Giants gave Alexis Gravel the start in net over both Jackson Whistle and Jake Kupsky and they were also without Ryan Smith. The Flyers iced the same team as the night before missing Johan Porsberger through injury and Milan Lucic a healthy scratch as Shane Owen retained his place in net.
It was a tentative start to the game from both sides and it took until the 4th minute for the first shot on goal to be fired in anger when Logan Neilson set up Keaton Jameson for a one timer from the high slot that Gravel got his pad to. The Flyers continued to pressure the Giants and they drew the first penalty of the game when Ciaran Long was binned in the 5th minute for a hook. An early chance for Neilson on the man advantage saw Gravel flash the glove to snag his shot from the circles and that was the best the Flyers could muster as the visitors got their first shot on goal through Carsen Twarynski as the Giants went on to complete the kill unscathed. A big one timer from Long from the left wing in the 8th minute saw Owen come up with a stick save. A minute later and the Fife goalie was in action again as he held a shot by Jordan Kawaguchi. Jake Gaudet was next to test Owen in the 13th minute as his rising shot was well held by the Flyers netminder. In the 14th minute Ryan Nicholson put the puck on net from the blueline and Justin Ducharme tipped it just wide of the Giants net. Neilson caught the Giants defence flat footed moments later and went in all alone on Gravel and he shut the wickets to deny the backhand five hole effort. Josh Roach had a rising shot from the left circles held by Owen in the 17th minute and in the final minute Scott Conway from the left of the Flyers goal saw Owen make a stick save to keep the scoreboard blank at the first break.
The Flyers had the first chance of the second period as Ducharme went down the right wing and Gravel was just able to hold onto his shot with the puck nestling in the crook of his arm in the 22nd minute. Owen did well to hold a shot from distance that came through traffic shortly afterwards. The Giants went on the powerplay in the 23rd minute as Andrew McLean got the gate for delay of game when he shot the puck out of play. Owen dealt with a shot from Mike Lee early on and in the closing seconds did well to track a puck that came back of the end boards to Conway in the slot and the Flyers returned to full strength. In the 45th minute Ian Scheid put the puck towards goal and it cannoned off Gaudet and almost went behind his own goalie. The Giants opened the scoring at 26:50 when JJ Piccinich gained the Fife zone with speed and from the high slot he pick the bottom corner glove side on Owen. Garet Hunt just couldn’t get enough on the puck in the slot in the 28th minute to trouble Gravel after his stick was tied up by Twarynski. The Flyers were back on the powerplay as Long returned to the sin bin on an interference call. The Giants killed the penalty comfortably however with the home side unable to get anything dangerous set up. The Giants missed a good chance to extend their lead with a 3 on 1 break but Owen made a terrific save to deny a David Goodwin shot from the slot. In the 34th minute Twarynski tested Owen but the Fife goalie was square to the shot and held the puck. Owen then made a solid stop on Gaudet before Jonas Emmerdahl in the 37th minute came up with a huge shot block to deny Conway a gaping net. The Giants passed up another 3 on 1 chance in the 38th minute as Gaudet didn’t get enough on a shot from an angle to trouble Owen. In the 39th minute the Giants were penalised again as Ben Lake was sent to the box for tripping Ethan Somoza but the Flyers didn’t gate any looks at Gravel before the buzzer.
The Flyers still had 60 seconds of powerplay time to start the final period and a one timer from Scheid was fought off by Gravel as the Giants completed the kill. In the 44th minute the Giants went to the powerplay as Jeremy Masella was called for a rough on Piccinich along the boards. Twarynski got a clear sight of goal but Owen was well out of the paint to take away his net and the Flyers competed an excellent penalty kill where they ragged the puck for spells to run down the clock and return to full strength. In the 49th minute the Giants survived a massive scramble around their net with McLean and Winquist coming very close to getting contact with the puck as Gravel was in full scramble mode. The Giants doubled their lead at 50:22 when Gabe Bast tried to walk the puck around Owen and his shot hit a post before the puck bounced straight onto the stick of Conway in the slot who roofed it high into the empty net. In the 52nd minute Neilson tried to go short side with a backhand shot but Gravel had his pad tight against the post to make the save. Picinich drove the net in the 55th minute but lifted the puck over the bar on the back hand but at 55:51 the Giants made the game secure when Twarynski reacted to a loose puck through the neutral zone and skated in all alone on Owen to beat him by sliding the puck through the five hole. Fife called their timeout and the intention was clear as they soon pulled Owen for the extra skater. McLean made a street hockey stop on Piccinich going for the empty net and Goodwin clean missed the empty net as Owen returned to the net after an icing. He was soon away again with just over 2 minutes remaining and Winquist saw a couple of shots hit metalwork and a big blast from Somoza was denied by Gravel as the puck went in and out of his glove. Try as they might to break the shutout the clock ran down on the Flyers efforts.
Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young
Fife Flyers are next at home on Sunday 8th March when they entertain the Sheffield Steelers – tickets can be bought online here: Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.
