Fife Flyers savour significant win in Cardiff – their first there since 2018

Wins in Wales have been few and far between - this was their first in the Principality since 2018 but it couldn’t have come at a more important time.

They shook off a ten-hour bus journey to open the scoring within 31 seconds, and led three times during the tightest of game before emerging triumphant in the shoot out.

Coach Tom Coolen hailed a “significant” win, adding: “It was a pretty even game but we got the points and we needed them more than Cardiff. It was a long drive - we left at 6:30am, and hopped out at 4:00pm.It is never easy when you have to do that but it was our only game of the weekend and we focussed everything on it.”

It was a back and forth game from the outset at the Vindico Arena. Troy Lajeunesse put Fife ahead with just 32 seconds played when he was left alone in the slot off a Vitalijs Pavlovs pass. Devils levelled with 10:14 played after Fife failed to clear their zone, and Evan Mosey backhanded past Shane Owen from a tight angle.

Period two saw the teams split four goals. Fife went back ahead off a Colin Shirley breakaway finish high over Tyler Wall's glove 2:08 into period two, before Marcus Crawford let fly from the point to tie things up at 25:18. Lucas Chiodo put Flyers back ahead some two minutes later, only for Brandon Alderson to circle the net and beat Owen in front at 29:56.

Both teams took a point with the game going to overtime after a scoreless third period, but Devils missed a golden opportunity to win it when the visitors took a minor penalty for too many men on the ice during overtime. Fife did excellently to close off the shooting lanes and restricted their hosts to few chances.

In the shootout, Owen stopped all five shots he faced, with Chiodo's goal in the opening round enough to win Fife the bonus point after Trevor Cox saw his final shot come off the post, allowing Flyers to pour off the bench to celebrate a second massive road win in five days.