‘Twas the night after Christmas and Fife Flyers endure hefty whitewash at Belfast...
Fife Flyers slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season with a 9-0 hammering at the hands of Belfast Giants on Boxing Day.
It was the seventh time the team has been blanked this season, and the third whitewash at the hands of the Northern Irish outfit. The fans who made the journey hoping for a festive treat witnessed a team that saw a 1-0 first period turn into a rout
There were debuts for former NHL stars David Booth and Milan Lucic, but they could do little to halt the tide as Flyers turned in a woeful defensive performance.
Coach Jamie Russell branded their second period defensive coverage as “horrible” and said his team was guilty of puck watching.
“Belfast are a really good team and if you give them odd man rushes they will capitalise - and we gave them ‘way too many.”
He also criticised the lack of support for netminder Shane Owen who was hung out to dry - a trait all too familiar to Flyers fans in recent seasons - as Giants romped to an all too easy victory after a tight opening period in which Fife created some good chances before Nicholas Guay fired the hosts ahead with three minutes left on the clock.
And then the roof caved in.
Scott Conway doubled the lead just 64 seconds into period two off a Guay feed to the far post, while Mike Lee’s shot deflected off Josh Winquist and past Shane Owen with 4:59 played in the period.
Jordan Kawaguchi then picked the puck up in the slot and rounded Owen to score at 31:29 to put the home side four ahead.
With Giants in complete control, they fired home another five goals in the final period.
Reid Irwin struck 27 seconds into the period to make it 5-0, before Carter Hamill slapped home Ciaran Long’s pass to score his first professional goal. Carsen Twarynski, Karl Boudrias and David Goodwin added further goals for the Giants, while Jackson Whistle denied Gino Finoro to record a 25-shot shutout.