Panthers tamed on trip north to Kirkcaldy

The Fife Flyers earned two valuable points thanks to a victory over the Nottingham Panthers in Kirkcaldy.

It settled the ship after back-to-back defeats, 4-3 at home to the Dundee Stars and a 10-3 home humbling by the Sheffield Steelers – a result Flyers’ head coach Todd Dutiaume said was a low point in his coaching career.

Only 24 hours later it was a different story, a victory sparked by two goals inside the first three minutes.

Danick Gauthier punished the men from the Midlands with a power play strike after only one minute 54 seconds.

And Tim Crowder added a second after 2:53 and Flyers never looked back.

Dutiaume, Fife’s head coach, would love a start like that in the Lace City tonight ( 7pm).

Paul Crowder counted with a second power play goal after 38 minutes before Brett Perlini opened Panthers’ account also on the power play after 41 minutes.

But Fife kept their cool and Mike Cazzola popped with less and four minutes to go.

Since then, Fife have struggled to find top form and consistency. They lost 4-1 at Sheffield and 3-2 at home after overtime to the Guildford Flames.

But they snapped back with a 2-1 win at Guildford, a result which pleased Dutiaume, who would love a repeat performance.

He has been engaged in man management this week but victory would undoubtedly be a massive boost ahead of three home games.

Flyers face Sheffield on Sunday, the Belfast Giants, a game being televised live on Wednesday, and a home clash with the Cardiff Devils on Saturday.

Dundee Stars nightmare run continued last night when they were whipped 7-2 at Belfast Giants.

The Tayside team have now lost their last six games and are rooted to the bottom of the table.

Patryk Wronka opened the scoring after eight minutes for the home side but Matt Marquardt levelled three minutes later.

Jordan Smotherman and Liam Morgan on the power play made it 3-1 after 19 minutes before Elgin Pearce pulled one back 33 seconds into the middle session.

Then the roof fell in. Matt Pelech started the goal rush after 27 minutes and Lewis Hook added another 10 minutes later.

Jean Dupuy added No 6 on the power play after Stars hit penalty problems 39 seconds from the second break. And Jesse Forsberg completed the scoring six minutes into the final session.

Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume.