Fife Flyers: more shots, more chances, but old habits creep back into games


They hit the M6 to Altrincham to face Manchester Storm, the team directly above them in the Elite League.
The gap between them has grown to 15 points with Storm also having a game in hand, but Flyers are hoping that the increased number of shots on goal and more offensive zone time will finally deliver the goals the team needs to post that victory. The club has won just twice in 28 league starts this season and is on a run of 13 straight losses which began with a 4-2 defeat to Storm on the road at the beginning of December.
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Hide AdJohnny Curran, interim coach, will have both import netminders on his bench for the weekend with Janis Voris back from illness, and defenceman Brodie Kay is also back after competing with GB in the men’s under20 world championships in Croatia - but young British forward Aiden Wilson is sidelined for up to six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot.
Flyers endured as tough time at Sheffield on Sunday, going down 8-0, just 24 hours after a 5-2 home loss to Dundee Stars
“We gifted Dundee that game, said Curran. “We dominated the first period, but we’re not scoring enough to also lose three in that first period. Playing catch up is tough.” Curran took all the positives he could as he pinpointed the need to post a win to raise spirits all round.
“People will look at the results, but we are getting more shots on goal, more offensive zone time, and more chances, so we know we are getting better,” he said. “Some old habits did creep back in after we lost a goal or two. It’s down to mental fatigue. This group has been through so much this season - more losses, and more bad losses than they’d ever expect. We have to keep chipping away.”
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Hide AdHe hopes that if the team delivers the same volume of shots, then some will eventually drop - and the tight ice pad at Altrincham is as good a place as any to start.
“It’s an old time hockey rink - chip the puck and go,” he said. “So much happens so quickly on the pad there - it is also a great place to come together and get a win. If we have the same volume of shots, same puck possession then surely it will drop.
“It is all about goals. At Guildford we had so many chances in the game - get a few goals back and they are suddenly thinking it might be a long night.”
Flyers return to home ice on Sunday to face former assistant coach Danny Stewart’s Nottingham Panthers who have moved into the top four on the back of a 4-1 win in Dundee last weekend.
Panthers have won the three previous meetings of the teams - 5-1 and 6-0 on home ice, while also edging a 4-3 shoot out in Kirkcaldy in early November. Sunday’s game faces-off at 5:15pm.
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