Flames battle past Flyers on Tuesday night

Photo: John Uwins

Guildford Flames moved up to seventh in the Premier sports elite League standings thanks to coming from behind twice to beat Fife Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Fife took the lead just past the ten minute mark after a nice break into the Flames zone eventually saw the puck fall kindly to Greg Chase who blasted through Kevin Lindskoug's five-hole for the game's opening goal. 

John Dunbar tied things up four minutes later on a rebound from Owen Griffiths' shot to cap a rush that he started in his own zone. However, the Flames shut off as the first period wound down and conceded with five seconds left before the buzzer - Matt Carter the Flyers' scorer. 

It took the hosts some 13 minutes to draw level again, this time enjoying a -5on-3 advantage on which Jamal Watson eventually got the puck over the line from close range. 

Fife, who had ended period two on the powerplay but failed to take advantage, killed off an Eric Naslund tripping minor in period three but fell behind six seconds later - Levi Cable found the top shelf from the slot after the Flyers had failed to clear their lines and Ian McNulty fed the puck in front.

A poor giveaway from Watson almost let the Flyers equalise inside the final two minutes but Lindskoug pulled off an excellent save to keep the Flames ahead. Visiting netminder Shane Owen was pulled for the extra attacker, after which a Flames penalty gave the Flyers a 6-on-4 advantage, but to no avail. Watson found the empty cage with two seconds remaining to cap off an important win for the hosts.

The result leaves the Flyers seven points shy of a playoff place, having played three games more than Coventry, and with only nine left to play this season. Guildford extend the gap over Manchester to four points and still have a game in hand over the Storm.