Marr shines as depleted Flyers put up a fight in defeat to Panthers

A depleted Fife Flyers side put a fight as they went down to a narrow defeat in Nottingham on Tuesday.

Flyers travelled without five imports, with Charlie Mosey added to the injury list, while Liam Heelis missed out through suspension. Josh Scoon was also absent.

However, the threadbare side produced a disciplined, defensive road game, with youngsters Reece Cochrane, Chad Smith and Sean Beattie all given ice time.

Man of the match netminder Jordan Marr saved 38 of 40 shots, while Flyers could only muster nine attempts of their own.

Fife worked hard to deny chances while riding their luck at times as Panthers struck the post on four occasions, however, the visitors also hit the post in the last minute with Marr pulled.

Panthers opened the scoring after seven minutes thanks to defenceman Dan Spang, and Alexander Mokshantsev finally added a second goal to the home side’s tally three minutes into the second period.

But when Carlo Finucci scored with Fife’s only shot on target during the middle frame it set up an intriguing finale, as Marr continued to keep the Scottish side within touching distance, and only the post denied Peter LeBlanc a late leveller that would have taken the game to overtime.

The loss was Fife’s first to Nottingham in two years, and means they can no longer catch Manchester in second place.

Flyers return to action tonight with Sheffield Steelers visiting Fife Ice Arena in the penultimate league match of the season. Face-off is scheduled for 7.30 p.m.