The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Flyers earn fourth straight league win
ICE HOCKEY: In-form Fife add to woes of struggling Steelers
Flyers came from behind to cut down Sheffield Steelers last night and complete their fourth straight win in the Elite League.
Todd Dutiaume’s men battled back from an early deficit to power to a 4-1 win and complete a nightmare weekend for the misfiring Yorkshire club who lost 4-2 at home to Glasgow Clan on Saturday after parting company with coach Paul Thompson in midweek.
Sheffield had gone ahead through Josh Pitt after 13 minutes on the powerplay, but Fife then responded with four unanswered goals.
Joe Basaraba opened their account after 26 minutes with Paul Crowder and Danick Gauthier assisting.
Evan Bloodoff then put them ahead on the power play after 32 minutes with Crowder again involved .
Basaraba made it 3-1 after 48 minutes, this time with Scot Aarssen and Chase Schaber involved in the build-up.
Carlo Finucci ended the contest with less than two minutes left with an emptynet strike.
Brendan Connolly scored a double but Manchester Storm blew Glasgow Clan away 6-2 last night.
Storm were 3-0 ahead after 28 minutes before Connolly pulled one back nine minute later.
The hosts then fired three goals in 11 third period minutes to lead 6-1 before Connolly scored a consolation less than four minutes from time.
Dundee Stars were burnt twice by the Guildford Flames over the weekend as their determined comeback efforts were denied in both games.
Flames won Saturday’s game 6-5 but Stars were boosted for the return at Dundee Ice Arena Matt Marquardt’s return. Petr Chaloupka and Matt Bissonnette missed out.
Guildford were still without Brett Ferguson and Kevin Phillips and ex-Star Travis Fullerton was left out after backstopping the Flames in their win on Saturday. Chris Carrozzi took over.
Stars continued their trend of starting slowly and their powerplay woes continued as they failed to get off the mark while on an early man advantage.
Flames’ John Dunbar’s persistence paid off as he sent a pass to Ian Watters and his backhanded shot beat Pontus Sjogren down low in the seventh minute.
Penalties were a constant theme in the second period and the Stars built up some pressure on the powerplay but still could not trouble Carrozzi.
Both teams created chances as the third period action went from end-to-end. Ricci played in Corcoran but he was denied before Reddick fed the puck to Ackered, only for Sjogren to save.
Stars were back on the powerplay in the 50th minute and, 25 seconds later, Cownie tucked home the equaliser.
More penalties followed before Reddick fired a shot straight over the shoulder of the Dundee goalie just 34 seconds into a powerplay but it got even worse for Stars as 16 seconds later Jamie Crooks picked out the top corner to make it 3-1 in the 53rd minute.
The home team had a quick answer as Marquardt fired in less than a minute later but Stars could not force an equaliser on a frustrating weekend.