Fife Flyers pulled off one of their best results of the season with a 7-4 win over Sheffield Steelers in front of a huge crowd at Fife Ice Arena.
The attendance in Kirkcaldy was boosted by the home team’s Kids Takeover Night, along with an incredible amount of travelling support from Yorkshire as part of the Steelers’ triple-header in Scotland.
“It was a good game, they got the first one but we responded pretty quick with three there in the first period,” began Flyers forward Ethan Somoza. “It was a good bounce-back from us. We knew they would push back and can score goals, but I think we answered back every time.”
Reece Kelly scored his first for the Steelers when he jumped into the play to finish past Christian Purboo 5:30 into the game.
The game was level thanks to Milan Lucic’s tip on a Simon Després shot at 12:43. Under three minutes later, Lucic’s work in the corner eventually allowed the Flyers to move the puck to Justin Ducharme alone in the slot, who finished past Eamon McAdam.
Things got even better for the hosts when Keaton Jameson’s faceoff win was fired immediately past McAdam by Somoza at 18:13, giving the Flyers a two-goal lead heading into the break.
Joona Huttula pulled the Steelers back to within one just shy of nine minutes into the second period, but two goals in the final five minutes of the frame put the Flyers firmly in control. Excellent work from David Booth driving the net created a loose puck for Anton Karlsson to knock home at 34:32. Just 22 seconds before the intermission, a big rebound fell to Johan Porsberger, who fired it into the net to make it 5-2.
The Flyers could have been further ahead but for an outstanding glove save from McAdam to deny Karlsson earlier in the period.
Two quick goals early in the third brought the Steelers right back into the contest. Mitchell Heard scored at 41:47, followed by a strong individual effort from Evan Jasper just under four minutes later to make it a one-goal game.
“Fife played really well, they capitalised on a lot of their second chances in front of the net,” said Jasper. “Our defence needs to be better. We let our goalie down tonight. We have to have a short memory here with two losses so far on this three-in-three, but we have another chance on Sunday to put it right.”
The Flyers made a late power play count when, after a series of broken plays, David Booth took his time to pick his spot past McAdam and make it 6-4 with under four minutes remaining.
McAdam was pulled with 45 seconds left, but a pass into the zone was intercepted and Somoza fired into the empty net from his own blue line to complete the scoring.
“It’s been nice to be on a points streak, my line-mates have helped me a lot,” added Somoza. “We’re going to use the momentum from tonight and take it with us on the bus to Nottingham on Sunday.”
Photo: Flyers Images
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