Fife Flyers: goals change game and momentum as Flyers fold in second period
Goals change games, and Fife Flyers found that out to their cost in a horrendous middle period - and the seeds of this 7-2 loss on home ice to Guildford Flames were entirely self afflicted.
Flyers went into the first break 1-0 up and in control. They were making chances, skating hard and the fans liked what they saw.
But, when they made a ridiculously late entry to the ice after the break,the refs slapped them with a bench minor for delaying the game, Flames scored on the powerplay, and everything changed.
Mindsets altered, the atmosphere took a big dip, and Flyers found themselves in a huge guddle. In short, they stank the rink out.
Flames struck twice inside 20 seconds to carve out a 3-1 lead which was never fully challenged, and skated to a victory they could not have envisaged when the team bus parked up at the rink.
Flyers have work to do to figure out how to hold the momentum, and how to get it back when it ebbs away. They are zero for two in the league, with losses coming against teams they need to beat to ensure they are part of the pack rather than watching their tail lights disappear over the horizon.
The change from period one to the rest of the game was stark – all the positives came in that opening 20 minutes as Fife ran the show.
They made the perfect start with the opening goal at 3:32 as Garet Hunt snapped up a loose puck, and found Ryan Nicholson on the point, and his shot was tipped home by Johan Porsberger.
Flyers played some smart hockey and looked to be having fun. That all stopped after their tardy return for the start of period two.
Handed an unexpected powerplay, Jamal Watson delivered a fine strike from the right to tie this game at 20:49.
Two minutes later, it was 2-1 as Marcus Tesink beat Shane Owen with a shot from the right point with Watson sinking two huge goals inside 20 seconds to blow this game apart, and hand Guildford a 4-1 advantage they were never going to give up.
At 35:13 Keaton Jameson was binned for tripping, and when a loose stick was kicked into the path of Cole Ully, interrupting his scoring chance, the refs awarded a penalty shot, which the Flames player duly converted for 5-1.
The third period was largely flat, with Charlie Curti scooping up a rebound for 6-1 after 50 minutes, and Tyler Busch capitalising when Owen spilled a shot at 53:49. Vlastimil Dostalek grabbed a late consolation for Flyers, but this was a game - and performance - to consign to the bin.