The Flyers visited the Clan for the first of two games in four days at the Braehead Arena between the two rivals. The Flyers welcomed back Jānis Voris and Kieran Craig following their one game suspensions but were still without the injured pair of Patrick Kyte and Aiden Wilson. Brodie Kay was added to the injured list after he left the game in the third period at Coventry on Sunday evening whilst James Spence and Cameron Kenny were also scratched. The Clan scratched Félix Paré and Nick Prkusic but otherwise iced a full bench.

It was the visitors who had the first chance in the opening minute after a giveaway by the Clan in their zone and Landon Bow was happy to see the puck stick under his pads after a shot on the turn by Charles-Antoine Paiement. The home side however did open the scoring and indeed the floodgates in the 3^rd minute when Darien Kielb sniped the top corner over the blocker of Voris. In the 5^th minute the Clan doubled their advantage when the Flyers were guilty of turning the puck over in their own zone and Voris did a good job to stop two shots close in by Deven Sideroff but Chris McKay followed up to lift the puck high into the net. Voris gloved a snapshot from Alex Forbes over the crossbar but soon after the Clan had another when Sideroff beat his man high up in the Flyers zone and went in on goal to pick the corner of the net under the blocker of Voris. The Flyers at this stage called their time out and Shane Owen came in to relieve Voris in net. 40 seconds later and the Fife defence was breached again as Owen made an initial pad save on Sideroff but the puck broke to Mitchell Heard who walked it around the goalie and into the net. In the 10^th minute Keaton Jamieson was penalized for boarding as the Flyers went on the first power play of the night. Within 30 seconds however the Clan broke up ice and Rylan Schwartz found Sideroff in the slot with all sorts of time and his shot beat Owen. The Flyers pulled a goal back on their man advantage when Bow made a stop from Massimo Carozza but couldn’t control the rebound and Kieran Craig was on hand to find the net. With just 12 minutes on the clock the Clan had half a dozen on the board as Liam Finlay darted onto a pass from Tyson McLellan at the blueline and went down main street on Owen to beat him with a low shot. In the 15^th minute Ryan Foss lifted a close in effort over the crossbar. In the 17^th minute Owen gloved a shot from McLellan and in the final seconds he also made another stop from a shot from the tops of the circles to end a torrid opening period.

The opening couple of minutes on the second period saw the Clan camped in the Flyers end of the ice but weren’t able to turn their possession into another goal. Cole Ully had a shot blockered away by Owen in the 23^rd minute but moments later the home side did find a way past Owen again as they played the puck around in the Flyers zone and fashioned an opening for Matt Berry who had  wide open net to shoot into. Owen made another blocker save in the 25^th minute on Sideroff and in the 29^th minute the Fife keeper did well to stop a close in effort from Robert Lachowicz. Sideroff broke through the Flyers defence in the 30^th minute and headed straight down the middle but Tyler Heidt managed to make a great poke check to knock the puck away before he could get a shot away. In the 32^nd minute a pass from Foss found Carozza but his shot from the slot slid past the post. The Clan made it 8-1 moments later with Kielb getting his second of the game when his shot from the blueline squeaked under the arm of Owen. 30 seconds later the Flyers pulled a goal back when Phélix Martineau broke into the Clan zone and elected to take the shot that went low past Bow into the twine. Martineau almost got another in the 35^th minute but just couldn’t get his stick on the puck as it flashed through Bow’s crease.

The Clan added to their lead in second minute of the final period when Finlay went down the right wing to beat Owen over the shoulder to fire high into the net. The Flyers survived a scramble around their net in the 45^th minute as Sideroff went looking for his hat trick goal. A minute later Owen made a pad save to stop a Ully backhand. Kielb who was also looking for a treble went in on Owen on a 2 on 1 break but he mis controlled the puck without getting a shot away. The Flyers pulled a goal back in the 47^th minute when Michael Cichy got the puck to Carozza behind the net and his pass out front found Craig all alone to beat Bow. The Flyers had their tails up momentarily and buzzed around the Clan net in the next couple of shifts with Martineau and Daniel Krenželok both having half chances. In the 51^st minute Martineau was just wide with a shot and on the follow up Noah Delmas forced a save from Bow. A 2 on 1 break for the Flyers in the 53^rd minute was broken up by Joe Hazeldine and a minute later the puck bobbled just wide of the Clan goal with Jordan Stallard in Bow’s kitchen. In the 55^th minute a redirect from Foss brought a smart save from Bow. Jamieson was denied a minute later by a leg save by Owen before Foss went the other way and weaved his way into the Clan zone but his shot from the slot on the backhand didn’t seriously trouble Bow. Ben Brown had a couple of shots on Bow in consecutive shifts and when he next put the puck on net with two minutes remaining Martineau got a tip on it to send it looping past the Clan goalie for another consolation. The Clan had a chance to bring up double figures as Berry broke away with just 40 seconds remaining but his shot struck iron. A penalty shot was called on the play but Owen denied Berry. With just 5 seconds remaining Krenželok took only the second penalty of the game when he went to the bin for high sticking.

Pic Credits – Glasgow Clan

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 9th February when they entertain the Dundee Stars – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.