Fife Flyers: short benched and an on-ice spat to wrap defeat at hands of Glasgow Clan
Fife Flyers sustained their eighth defeat in nine starts, going down 4-1 to Glasgow Clan at Braehead.
Their short-benched side gave what it could, but was eventually worn down by Clan’s greater depth.
The game ended on a sour note as Milan Lucic berated team-mate Logan Neilson before throwing a glove in his face - a moment of frustration, but one which sparked yet more debilitating, negative headlines for the club at a time when it is trying desperately to steady the ship.
Flyers iced without Anton Karlsson who left the club on Friday - a departure hot on the heels of Gio Finoro and David Booth - while Johan Porsberger was out injured along with Ethan Somoza, and captain Garet Hunt suspended.
That left coach Jamie Russell with just three lines against Clan’s four, and the best performances came in the opening period, which saw Brett Neumann open the scoring with a composed finish from a Rylan Schwartz feed to give Clan a 1-0.
The west coast side doubled their lead in the second period when Paré finished from Brady Risk, but Flyers responded through Logan Neilson, assisted by Keaton Jameson and Jonas Emmerdahl, to cut the deficit to one. Despite a late power-play opportunity for Fife, Clan held their lead to remain 2-1 ahead after 40 minutes.
Clan’s greater depth told in the third as they carved out a lead which just beyond Flyers. Schwartz made it 3-1 just 42 seconds into the third period, and new signing Mick Messner added a fourth 1:23 later to put the result beyond doubt.
It widened the gap between the teams to 21 points. For Flyers, the goal now is to surely ride out this season with some pride before consigning it to the history books.