Flyers take important shootout win in Cardiff

Photo: James Assinder

Fife Flyers added to their impressive week on the road with a shootout win in Cardiff, their second away victory in five days, to move themselves back into the playoff places.

It was a back and forth game from the outset at the Vindico Arena. Troy Lajeunesse put Fife ahead with just 32 seconds played when he was left alone in the slot off a Vitalijs Pavlovs pass. The Devils levelled with 10:14 played after the Flyers failed to clear their zone, and Evan Mosey backhanded past Shane Owen from a tight angle. 

Period two saw the teams split four goals. Fife went back ahead off a Colin Shirley breakaway finish high over Tyler Wall's glove 2:08 into period two, before Marcus Crawford let fly from the point to tie things up at 25:18. Lucas Chiodo put the Flyers back ahead some two minutes later, only for Brandon Alderson to circle the net and beat Owen in front at 29:56.

Both teams took a point with the game going to OT after a scoreless third period, but the Devils missed a golden opportunity to win it when the visitors took a Too Many Men minor during overtime. Fife did excellently to close off the shooting lanes and restricted their hosts to few chances.

In the shootout, Owen stopped all five shots he faced, with Chiodo's goal in the opening round enough to win Fife the bonus point.