Fife Flyers: five players thrown out after brawl as Belfast Giants claim points

They are getting there, and can draw a lot of positives from this game - but bottom line is they need some wins under their belt. And soon.

They stepped up significantly in terms of performance against Belfast Giants at Fife Ice Arena, and while the final scoreline of 5-2 was harsh, it was a reminder of the work still to be done.

Flyers got home from Belfast at 5:00am and had to lace up for this game less than 12 hours later - a farcical piece of scheduling which has been the hallmark of too many campaigns. They came out physical, and more than matched Giants over the opening two periods.

The opening period ended 1-1, the second 2-2, but Giants showed their ruthless edge in the third when they punished individual mistakes and carved out a lead that was not going to be surrendered.

Five players were also thrown out in a late brawl as things got a bit out of hand, but the fans’ response was significantly more positive than it was after last week’s home loss to Nottingham Panthers. The key now is to get the first points on the board - and quickly - and find a goalscorer with Justin Ducharme out for six weeks, and Johan Porsberger missing the weekend through injury.

Overall, this was a fun game to watch. The hits flew, some gums were bumped and Fife stood up well to one of the strongest teams in the league.

Joe Lynch had an outstanding game - he hasn’t even trained with the team yet - while big Norwegian Didrik Svendsen also stood out after a quiet few weeks, while Keaton Jameson and Drew McLean grafted all night long.

Giants grabbed the opening goal at 6:27 after a lively opening from Fife, with a fine shot from Markus Eriksson. Flyers were level at 8:57 thanks to Lynch’s superb work behind the net for Svendsen to flick the puck home.

Giants went back ahead at 25:09 with a well worked goal as Scott Conway converted a pass to the back of the post, but Flyers responded within a matter of minutes as Ethan Somoza turned home Jameson’s pass into the slot at 28:40.

The period ended with Mike Lee exchanging words with Garet Hunt after Flyers’ captain had a few digs at him - a hint of what was to come in the third where Giants effectively killed this game with two lightning goals; Ryan Smith finishing at 43:05, and then Nicolas Guay squeezing a shot under Purboo after Flyers made a mistake in the neutral zone.

After 48 minutes there was a lot of gum bumping as Svendsen and Ciaran Long squared off as Hunt and Lee clashed again - this time with Hunt doing the old 'chicken' gesture as his opponent didn’t want to know.

It was game over at 54:57 as Giants broke two on one, with Scott Conway netting off a pass from Marcus Eriksson.

Fast forward one minute and a crosscheck from Josh Winquist in front of Flyers’ bench sparked a brawl. Guay had a pop at Hunt and suffered in the fight that followed, while Long and Ian Scheid dropped the gloves, with all four ejected from the game for roughing, along with Winquist.