The Flyers made their final trip of the regular season over the Irish Sea to meet the table topping Belfast Giants. The visitors were still without the injured Josh Winquist and David Booth who had been placed on injured reserve with his season now ended. Christian Purboo was scratched for Shane Owen to start in net and Logan Neilson was missing through GB International commitments. The Giants who also had Jackson Whistle playing with GB decided to rest him and give new signing from earlier in the week from the Guildford Flames Jake Kupsky the start in net. The Giants were also without Carsen Twarynski and youngsters Carter Hamill and Rhodes Mitchell-King the latter of whom was also with team GB.
The Flyers started the game brightly and they had the first shot on net in the 2nd minute when Justin Ducharme went down the left wing and his effort was paddled away by Kupsky. In the 5th minute the Giants netminder had to show quick reactions to a strange bounce off the boards as he beat Keaton Jameson in the slot to poke check the puck away. A minute later and the visitors had a glorious chance when a quick up pass from Ian Scheid saw Giordano Finoro go in all alone from the Giants blueline and he tried to go five hole but Kupsky shut the wickets. The Giants had their first shot on Owen in the 7th minute when Bo Hanson fired on net from the high slot which the Fife keeper blockered away and moments later Owen got across goal to scramble away a wraparound chance for Mike Lee. In the 8th minute a reverse pass from Scott Conway found David Goodwin at the circles and his shot missed the far post with Owen getting a crucial touch. Kupsky was in action in the 10th minute when he stopped a backhand from Mason Alderson with Garet Hunt on the doorstep. A minute later and Scheid tried to beat the Giants keeper at his near post but he made the save. The visitors took a deserved lead at 12:32 after some great forechecking won them the puck and when it was worked to Finoro he took it to the slot and wet back against the grain to beat Kupsky. Jordan Kawaguchi took the puck to the Flyers net in the 13th minute but slid his shot wide however the Flyers recycled the puck and when it came out to Ben Lake in the slot he had 4 Flyers jersey’s around him but still managed to roof the puck to level the game at 13:42. In the 15th minute Owen blockered away a shot from the high slot by Karl Boudrias. In the 16th minute Goodwin was called for a slash to put the Flyers on the first powerplay. Scheid had a shot from the slot blockered away by Kupsky who then made a great save with the blocker to deny Anton Karlsson but the puck was cycled and Johan Porsberger fired low past the Giant netminder to regain the Flyers lead. The Giants ended the period with a carry forward powerplay as Porsberger was binned for a slash in the 19th minute.
The Flyers completed the kill but just as Porsberger stepped back on the ice the Giants levelled at 20:46 as Jake Gaudet standing at the top of the crease got a piece of the puck in from the top of the left circle and it squeaked through Owen. Kupsky made a big pad save in the 22nd minute to deny Finoro and a minute later Garrett McFadden had a couple of efforts in quick succession that Owen dealt with. The Giants went back on the powerplay in the 26th minute as Ethan Somoza was binned for a hook. Lee had a shot from the point saved by Owen who was aggressively out at the top of his crease to track through a screen and the Flyers completed the kill. In the 28th minute the Flyers passed up another guilt edge chance not once but twice as both Jameson and Milan Lucic broke in all alone on Kupsky who made the first save to deny Jameson and then followed up to stop Lucic on the rebound. Jameson was called for a cross check in front of the Giants net in the 29th minute to put the homeside back on the powerplay. The Giants made the visitors pay as Owen made an initial save on Gaudet on the edge of his crease but the puck fell for JJ Piccinich who buried the loose puck. In the 32nd minute Lucic drove the net but Kupsky came up with a strong pad save to knock the puck to safety. A minute later and shot by Kawaguchi was squeezed in the crook of his arm by Owen. Moments later the Giants doubled their advantage as Kawaguchi on the right wing threw a backhand pass into the slot and Nicolas Guay managed to control the bouncing puck and also beat the poke check from Owen to slot home at 33:10. Owen swallowed a shot from the circles by Scott Conway in the 36th minute and a minute later a spin move by Karlsson on the Giants blueline saw him skate in 1 on 1 with Kupsky but he shot wide of the net and another glorious chance went abegging. Owen kept the Fifers deficit to two with a fine blocker save in the final minute on Ciaran Long.
In the 42nd minute Kupsky did well to cover up with Jameson sniffing around his crease. In the 44th minute Owen was square to a big blast from Piccinich then moments later the Fife keeper absolutely stoned Conway in the slot with a right pad save following a horrible giveaway in the Fife zone. Owen then shut down the short side as Long put the puck on net in the 47th minute. Another giveaway by the Flyers in the 49th minute and Gaudet looked to capitalise but Owen came up strong again. Goodwin was next to be denied by the Flyers keeper in the 52nd minute and a minute later Ducharme and Lucic headed up an odd man break but Kupsky came out to take away the angle on Ducharme who shot from the right circles. The Giants keeper was in action again in the 55th minute when he made a fine stop on a backhand attempt by Finoro. Giants were called for a retaliatory slash by Gabe Bast on the play as the Flyers went to their second powerplay of the night. The Giants kill was effective keeping the Flyers to the outside and they didn’t allow the visitors to get anything set up as they returned to full strength. Simon Despres moments later had a snapshot from below the circles well held by Kupsky. With 2:30 left on the clock the Flyers called their time out and Owen stayed on the bench for the extra skater. The Flyers won the draw and worked the puck back to Scheid who wired it on net and it appeared to touch Lucic on the edge of the crease who screened Kupsky as the net bulged at 57:23. The Flyers soon had Owen back on the bench after the restart but the Giants Josh Roach could have iced the game with a chance at the empty net but his shot bobbled and hit the post before Karlsson then played goalie to keep the follow up out. With 90 seconds to go Owen was again back on the bench and Kupsky made his final save of the night as he swallowed a shot from the angle from Jameson as the Giants eventually managed to run down the clock on a brave Fife effort.
Pic Credits – Belfast Giants
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