Kyle Osterberg hat-trick seals Fife Flyers’ huge road win for place in play-offs

Flyers removed all the mathematical permutations with a decisive victory over Dundee Stars which saw Kyle Osterberg deliver a sublime hat-trick, and netminder Shane Owen produce another man of the match winning performance.

Coolen said: “We did what we had to do, scored when we needed to - I’m pretty happy with our effort. Shane did a great job - this was a big win for our team.”

Face-off was delayed by almost 25 minutes to get the 2600-strong crowd into the rink. Flyers tested netminder Lucas Brien - in the nets again as starting goalie Kevin Carr remained sidelined by injury - with some early shots before the game settled into a rhythm.

Stars went ahead at 9:29 as they capitalised on a Flyers’ giveaway with Ryan Valentini funding the net, but they were pulled back to level pegging inside within two minutes as defenceman Kevin Wehrs pulled the trigger from distance and found the top corner of the net. Owen they delivered a stunning save to deny Spencer Naas, and also came up with big saves as Dundee looked to regain their early lead, allowing the teams to go into the first buzzer on equal terms.

The second period saw Flyers start to motor and build up what provides to be a dominant lead. Osterberg got the first of his hat-trick when he got the puck behind the net and got it past Brine.

Stars levelled within one minute as they picked off a puck in the neutral zone, and Jake Elmer set up Carter Johnson. Flyers, however, kept going and were back ahead with a key goal at 25:42 as Collin Shirley carried the puck down the right wing, and his pass was turned home by Osterberg. Less than six minutes later it was 4-2 as Stars gave the puck away - Max Humitz picked out Temmun Pulkinnen and he made no mistake.

Going into the third period, Stars desperately needed an early goal to get back into this crucial match, but they also came undone with a Sean Giles shot which crashed off the post with their goalie beaten.

They then killed a key penalty only to see Flyers strike again for 5-2 at 46:09 and all but put the game beyond them. A shot from Troy Lajeunesse came off the pads of Brine and Shirley was on hand to scoop the puck home. The Flyers with their lead were content to play a passive game and try and run the clock down.

Flyers stayed in control as the clock wound down, and there was time for Osterberg to complete a memorable hat trick with less than five minutes remaining. They finished the game killing a minor penalty, which was followed by a brief scuffle on the buzzer that led to several players being handed ten-minute misconduct penalties; Aleksi Makela and Vitlijs Pavlovs for Flyers, and the Stars’ trio of Ryan Valentini, Kris Inglis and Xavier Pouliot.