After trailing most of the game, the Devils battled back to steal the win from the Flyers in Fife on Sunday night, courtesy of a Brodie Reid overtime game winner.
The Devils were once again without Sam Jardine and Josh Brittain and were playing their third game in three nights. Taran Kozun got the start in net for the second night in a row and Shane Owen took up his usual spot in the Fife net.
The Flyers opened the scoring at 7:49, but Coach Brodie Dupont challenged the play as a Flyers’ forward fell into Kozun as Dillon Lawrence shot the puck into the net. After the referee’s reviewed the play, they decided it was a good goal, which put them up 1-0 and also meant a penalty to the Devils.
They managed to kill of the ensuing powerplay and then at 15:10 after Owen made an initial save on Trevor Cox, Joey Martin grabbed the rebound and passed behind his back to Cole Sanford for the tying goal.
A late penalty called against Marcus Crawford for interference saw the Flyers finish the period on a powerplay. With 7 seconds left on the clock, Reece Harsh blasted a one-timer over the shoulder of a screened Kozun to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
The Devils started the second period how they finished the first, on the penalty kill after Joey Martin took a slashing penalty moments after the opening face-off. The Devils killed it off and went right on the offense with Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford going close.
After that it was a constant parade to the penalty box for the Devils, first Crawford was called for interference, then given an additional unsportsmanlike conduct for firing the puck off the boards in frustration at the call. The Devils killed off that 4 minute powerplay for the Flyers.
Then after Justin Crandall was hauled down, it looked like the Devils were getting their first powerplay of the night, only for Crandall to be called for diving instead. A scrum after the whistle as the Devils were on the kill ended with another penalty for the Devils, giving the Flyers 1:20 of a 5 on 3 powerplay, which again the Devils managed to kill off.
At 34:15, the Devils finally got their first powerplay of the game but could not convert and the second period finished with the Flyers holding onto their 2-1 lead.
The refs put their whistles away in the third period, but despite some early pressure on the Flyers goal, Shane Owen was stopping everything the Devils threw at him. Head Coach Brodie Dupont opted to pull Kozun very early, with just under 4 minutes to play and the bold move paid off when Joey Martin slammed in a rebound to tie the game 2-2 with 3:03 left to play.
With less than two minutes on the clock, Justin Crandall somehow picked the puck off of a Flyers defenceman trying to hold the puck in the Devils zone and sprung for a breakaway. A nifty move saw him tuck the puck past Owen to put the Devils ahead 3-2 with just 1:22 to play.
The Devils just needed to kill the final minute of the game off, but instead Mikael Johansson carried the puck through the Devils zone and wristed a low shot that beat a screened Kozun to tie the game.
The game remained tied after 60 minutes of play and headed into overtime where the Devils took 32 seconds to end the game. After controlling the puck from the opening draw, Crandall and Crawford set up a Brodie Reid blast that beat Owen and gave the Devils the 4-3 win.
Kozun made 34 saves for the win and Joey Martin picked up the Man of the Match for his goal and assist on the night.
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