Flyers see off Storm after derby success

Fife now level with Stars after four-point weekend

FIFE FLYERS 3 MANCHESTER STORM 2

Fired-up Fife Flyers claimed a four-point weekend last night to kept their slim play-off hopes alive.

They are now level with rivals Dundee Stars on 36 points, though Fife have played four more games.

The Kirkcaldy club are now only a point adrift of Glasgow Clan who occupy the eighth and final play-off slot. They have also only played 44 games.

It was experienced Paul Crowder who claim the game-winner midway through the final session for Fife.

Brother Tim had fired Fife ahead after 11 minutes , with Carlo Finucci assisting.

It took Ryan Finnerty’s side until the 36th minute to break through and Layne Ulmer was in the right place at the right time to net.

The goal came after a mistake from netminder Adam Morrison, who went behind his net to clear the puck but got tangled up with Fife defenceman Sam Jones laying the puck on a plate.

However, battling Fife responded 55 seconds later. James Isaacs set up Chase Schaber and he tipped the puck home to edge the home side 2-1 ahead.

It will certainly have eased the tension on Flyers’ bench after soaking up pressure from Storm, who came out full of fight in the third and stung Flyers with a leveller after only two minutes.

Scott Simmonds fired home a rebound from Morrison’s pads after a move down the right hand side of the rink. Henrik Samuelsson assisted to set up a nailbiting final 18 minutes.

Fife took the lead for a third time on 49 minutes when Paul Crowder tipped in a shot from Mike Cazzola.

DUNDEE STARS 1 FIFE FLYERS 3

Dundee Stars failed to take advantage of the atmosphere and support of a near capacity crowd at the Dundee Ice Arena on Saturday as they crashed to a disappointing 3-1 defeat.

The loss in front of a crowd of 2,300 has dealt a blow to their push for a playoff spot.

Stars head coach Omar Pacha said: “It was very frustrating and there is no hiding from the disappointment.

“I thought in the first period we were okay and that it would get progressively better but unfortunately it went the other way. I just thought throughout the night we were outplayed.”

Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume said: “I think it is safe to say without those two points tonight then it effectively ends any late challenge we might possibly develop but the guys dug deep and played well tonight.

“I thought the atmosphere in the building was great tonight between both sets of fans. This is always a great building to play in when the place is buzzing like that.”

The opening minutes saw both teams trade chance for chance but there would be no early goals in this big derby fixture.

However, Fife hit Stars with a quick counter-attack in five minutes when Carlo Finucci fired a high shot into the net from the left wing.

Kevin Dufour and Drydn Dow came close to levelling for the hosts before Matt Carter grabbed a leveller on 17 minutes.

Flyers regained the lead in 25 minutes as defenseman Michal Gutwald hit a hard slapshot that rose into the top of Alec Leclerc’s net.

Fife still held a one-goal advantage going into the final session and Pacha went all in after calling his timeout with 99 seconds left on the clock.

After pulling the goaltender Dundee gave up an empty net goal with 73 seconds remaining as Mike Cazzola found the gaping goal from his own end of the ice to wrap up the points for Dutiaume’s side.

Stars face Manchester Storm at home this Saturday before a visit Cardiff Devils the following day. Flyers visit Sheffield Steelers on Saturday.