Fife Flyers fall short on biggest night of season, play-offs take different direction

After the high of play-off qualification 24 hours earlier, the return to earth and a 4-1 loss to Dundee Stars who were in a ‘win or bust’ scenario - and played like it.

Flyers also had much to play for. They started the game in sixth spot and on course to meet Belfast Giants in the quarter-finals. They ended it in eighth - a one point differential - and a match up with champions Sheffield Steelers. Fine margins on a night when all was at stake.

The electricity that crackled through the teams was evident in a fast, free-flowing, almost non-stop opening period in which neither settled fully. Stars were hungrier and more relentless in their approach, Fife huffed and puffed, and while they created chances galore, this was one of those nights when passes weren’t sharp enough, and moves didn’t flow the way have done this season.

They fell behind to the scrappiest of goals with just two minutes played as Shane Owen made the block and the puck ping-ponged between defencemen and ended up in the net. Ryan Valentini got the credit and celebrated wildly as the big travelling support erupted with noise.

Flyers tested Stars netminder Lucas Brine and he came good every time, twice denying Collin Shirley. It was hectic stuff at times, and it took until the second period until the teams paused for breath, by the end of which Stars were 3-0 up and, in all honesty, out of sight of a Fife side that just didn’t get motoring.

At 24:09 they gave Tony Rinaldi far too much space on the left, and he skated on to a great pass and let rip with a fine shot past Shane Owen for 2-0. He struck again 12 minutes later with superb speed and a clinical finish after driving the net to put Stars on the cusp of the play-offs.

Flyers continued to create, and continued to cough, chances - their final touch just not enough to find a way past Brine. They did ping metalwork a couple of times - the fine margin between a goal and recovery, and playing second fiddle.

Troy Lajeunesse saw one shot come off the post, while a tip on a Pulkinnen effort also deflected. Fife desperately needs a goal to kick-start their game but it didn’t come until 46:54, Lajeunesse converting penalty shot for 3-1.

They did start to motor, but the second goal proved elusive - Kyle Osterberg couldn’t connect standing in front of the net with ten minutes to play, underlining the sort of night it was. With 1:57 left on the clock they pulled Owen, and Stars struck the post from deep in their own zone,. A time-out followed before Brendan Harms rolled a long shot down the ice pad into the empty net for 4-1.

Both teams won in the end by making the play-offs, but Fife’s journey ahead would have been so very different with a win.