Fife Flyers made their second trip of the season to the Vindico Arena to meet the Cardiff Devils who were looking to extend their early lead at the top of the standings. It was the first of three games in three nights for the home side who scratched Evan Mosey, Mac Carruth, Cody Donaghey and Hunter Shinkaruk. The Flyers were almost as they were two nights previous with Fynn Page that additional scratch along with the injured Nikolai Shulga, Johnny Curran, Olivier LeBlanc and Patrick Kyte leaving them with just 14 skaters.

25 seconds in and Josh MacDonald had the first look at goal with a snapshot from a Devils face off win that Owen made a left pad save on. The Devils fast start however was rewarded with a goal after 50 seconds when they quickly transitioned the puck and on an odd man rush Zach O’Brien lasered the puck top shelf. In the 2^nd minute Martin Látal took the puck coast to coast and got a shot away that Ben Bowns couldn’t handle cleanly. From the second phase of play Látal again had an effort on goal but he lifted his backhand shot over the net. The Flyers were back on level terms in the 3^rd minute when Austin Farley won a puck behind the net and his feed out front found Michael Cichy in the slot who fired low into the corner of the net. The game was wide open at this stage as play raged from end to end with teams trading chances although neither goalie was overly worked. Daniel Krenželok joined the rush in the 6^th minute and his shot forced a pad save from Bowns. In the 8^th minuet a turnover behind the Flyers net saw the puck played out to Tyler Busch and from an angle his shot looked net bound with Owen just getting his skate on it to keep it out as it slithered past the post. In the 9^th minute a nice lay off by Maxim Musorov played Látal in and as he skated in on Bowns he went backhand but he was shut down by the Devils keeper. Owen swallowed a shot from Ryan Barrow in the 10^th minute. In the 12^th minute Drake Pilon pulled a few moves as he went in on the Devils goal only to be held by Gleason Fournier as the visitors went on the first power play of the night. The Flyers were patient in their possession and although they retained the puck in the Devils zone they couldn’t fashion a clear scoring opportunity as the Devils returned to full strength. Musorov had a backhand shot turned away by Bowns in the 15^th minute and Krenželok then  tried his luck from just inside the blue line but Bowns made the stop. The Devils hit back and Reid Duke with a wrister forced a fine pad save by Owen. In the 17^th minute the Flyers goalie made a stunning save from Kohen Olischefski who got a shot away from the slot. The Devils next shift saw them cycle the puck in the Flyers zone which ended with a Duke blast being turned away by Owen. With 53 seconds of the period remaining Krenželok was called for checking to the head as the Devils ended the period on the power play. Owen made a couple of very sharp saves to deny O’Brien and Barrow in the dying seconds who was parked on the edge of his crease.

The Devils almost opened the second period with a go ahead goal after Olischefski fans on a shot that ends up going off the base of the post. The Flyers returned to full strength and Látal with his speed once again gave the Devils defence problems but Devils were also quick to go the other way and Josh Batch tested Owen who was happy to cover up. The Devils went ahead in the 24^th minute when Riley Brandt won a puck battle and his pass over to Mark Richardson was quickly reversed to the other side of the net where Ben Davies had an easy tap in. A minute later MacDonald from a great position sailed his shot over the crossbar. Drake Pilon had a shot on the turn in the 27^th minute that hit Bowns on the shoulder. In the 29^th minute Batch missed the target from the slot and in the follow up move Duke had his shot well saved by Owen. The Devils doubled their lead in the 29^th minute when a Jarrod Gourley blast from the blueline was redirected in the slot by Cole Sanford giving Owen no chance. Moments later and Barrow scooped the puck over a gaping goal as Owen was scrambling to cover his net. The Flyers went back on the power play in the 31^st minute when Richardson was called for hooking. The Flyers controlled the puck in the Devils zone for the first minute but again couldn’t get any clean shots and when Devils cleared their zone Pilon was called for a slash on Sanford. With the team skating 4 on 4 for 44 seconds Brett Perlini tested Owen with a shot from a face off win in the Flyers zone. The Devils then went on their power play but the Flyers kill was solid with no shots getting through to Owen. The Devils added another in the 36^th minute when Davies from down below the goal line fired the puck from a bad angle at net and somehow it banked in off of Owen. In the 38^th minute Brandt combined with Richardson who saw his shot blockered away by Owen. With 90 seconds of the period remaining the Devils were called for simultaneous minors with Brandt a high stick and Gourley getting the gate for interference. It took all of 12 seconds for the Flyers to reduce arrears with an absolute bomb by Krenželok who went top shelf on Bowns.

The Flyers still had 30 seconds of man advantage to start the third period but it was when the Devils returned to full strength that they created their best chances with a huge shift that penned the Devils into their own zone for over a minute. Bowns during that time produced the save of the game when he stretched out a pad to rob Cichy who connected with the puck from just outside of the Devils crease. In the 43^rd minute Owen gloved a Duke shot as the Devils made their first foray of the period into the Flyers zone. Owen had to make a good stop in the 45^th minute as he tracked and held a huge blast from Gourley. The game was wide open with both teams still trading chances and when Flyers broke 3 on 2 it was a great last ditch block by Gourley that denied them a chance before the Devils went straight back down the other way and Perlini was denied by Owen from close in. Flyers were carrying the offensive play and in the 49^th minute a 2 on 1 break by Látal saw him feed the puck to Phélix Martineau whose one time blast brought another huge save from Bowns and on the play Tyler Busch was called for a cross check putting the Flyers back on the power play. Again the Flyers had a lot of patient zone possession of the puck but only had an Austin Farley shot that went in and out of Bowns’s glove to show before the Devils produced a killer blow. Richardson cleared the puck down ice and Sanford and Martin chased it down and combined with the former ending up with an easy tap into a gaping net as the Flyers were caught up ice leaving Owen exposed. The next power play went the way of the Devils with Látal being binned for a high stick and it was clear that the Devils wanted to move Owen around in his goal on their man advantage but the Fife stopper made a good save going post to post on a Sanford shot as the penalty killers once again did their job. The final chance fell the way of the Devils in the final few minutes when Olischefski on a 2 on 1 elected to take the shot but Owen stuck out a pad to deflect the puck into the corner as the Flyers kept pushing until the buzzer.

Pic Credits – James Assinder

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Saturday 19th October when they entertain the Guildford Flames – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.