Fife Flyers celebrate huge road win after sudden death shoot out with Belfast Giants
Fife Flyers made the perfect start to 2024 with a superb 4-3 win on the road over Belfast Giants. They won it in a sudden death penalty shoot out at a rink where they have rarely enjoyed success - and that sets things up nicely for Sunday’s home game against Nottingham Panthers.
Kyle Osterberg and Troy Lajeunesse were the marksmen on target to secure the points – Osterberg hit three in the shoot out – on a night which saw debuts for netminder Kevin Lindskoug and new defenceman Kevin Wehrs.
The fans who made the journey across the Irish Sea were treated to a thrilling finale which came after Fife found themselves 3-0 down after 21 minutes.
Ben Lake fired Giants ahead with nine minutes on the clock, and he struck again at the start of the second period for 2-0. Jeff Baum’s counter for 3-0 at 21:40 seemed to have Fife in trouble, but they dug deep once again and cut the gap to make this a one-goal hockey game before the second buzzer.
Lajeunesse opened their account after 24 minutes and rang the red light again ten minutes later, both goals assisted by Brady Poteau.
A slashing call against Lake with less than eight minutes left to play saw coach Tom Coolen call a time out, and the specialist team duly delivered as Lajeunesse tied the game. Overtime couldn’t separate the teams and it was on to a penalty shoot out which saw Osterberg net in the first round and again in sudden death to secure a huge win – their first in Belfast since 2018.
> Flyers take on Panthers at Fife Ice Arena on Sunday (5:15pm)