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Clan go seven up as Flyers lose their fizz
by Craig Anderson of Slapshot: http://slapshotscotland.wordpress.com. It’s a dent in their hopes for the play-offs and it seems the old problems suffered at the start of the season is coming back again, but it’s not all bad news for Fife Flyers. Yes, they’ve now lost their last three games and yes, their imported forwards seem to have forgotten how to score, but with Edinburgh Capitals and Dundee Stars not doing much either, it gives great hope for Todd Dutiaume’s men. As for Braehead Clan, any psychological trauma of their last three meetings with the Flyers will surely have been washed away after such a dominant victory. With a record of two losses and the slenderest of wins on penalty shots as Fife took five out of a possible six points, you would have forgiven Drew Bannister, the Clan coach, of being a little cautious. Indeed there was the slight anticipation of any lingering animosity between Bannister and Danny Stewart over the incident at the end of the previous meeting when Stewart got into a clash with Clan’s netminder Jaakko Suomalainen and was jumped by an enraged Bannister, who leapt from the side to protect his man. Nothing like that ever came to fruition and all the fans got – and there were many from both sides – was one team playing extremely well, one playing extremely poorly and one hell of a one-sided scoreline. Lee Mitchell released Jade Galbraith down the middle early doors, but found Flyers keeper Garrett Zemlak more than up to the task, before Dutiaume diverted one off the post from Chris Wands’ shot. A feisty start to the game and it was when Bannister himself scored the opener, you had an inkling this wasn’t going to be Fife’s night. Set up by Jordan Krestanovich, the Clan player-coach smashed one from halfway inside the Flyers’ zone and Zemlak was beaten on the powerplay. Fife, it must be said, looked toothless going forward at times, but with a combination of their offence offering very little and Clan’s D-men on their game, it was frustrating for them, although Stewart’s chance needed Suomalainen to divert the puck over his bar. Another attempt by Mitchell to send Galbraith through one-on-one with Zemlak looked promising, but didn’t deliver as Fife’s goalie showed his class, but it wasn’t long before the visitors put themselves 2-0 up. Mike Bayrack played in Brock McPherson and the Clan forward brilliantly flicked the puck into the net from close out as Braehead started to tighten their grip on the game. McPherson almost added his second, trying to finish Mike Wirll’s initial saved shot, but Matt Cohen got his stick in first to clear. But then it was three up as Jim Jorgensen’s stinger from the blue line was finished on the rebound by Galbraith and shortly after, some great skating from Adam Walker fed Ryan Campbell in the middle and he swept into the net to make it 4-0. The home side were offered a slight glimmer of hope at the end of the second when Clan found themselves at the wrong end of a five-on-three play with Toms Hartmanis smashing a wonderful shot into the net from just inside the blue line, via a deflection, but Suomalainen was beaten in any case. A comeback at this stage seemed unlikely for Fife, but to have achieved it would have been a huge show of character. One minute and 18 seconds into the third period essentially killed them off and you would have thought the Flyers defence would have learned. A quick break saw Mitchell feed Galbraith and he was through on Zemlak once more and on this occasion, he was able to outwit the Kirkcaldy netminder and place the puck into the net for the visitors’ fifth and Galbraith to get his 25th goal of the season. For Fife, it was all over now. Stewart hit the post with a chance as the Flyers tried desperately to salvage something from this wretched display, but Braehead’s three lines were clearly in the mood so to see Walker finish his chance after being set up by Matt Haywood would have been pleasing for Bannister. Tim Maxwell, Fife’s deserved man of the match, got another back midway through the third period with a powerful smash, but it was too little too late. Eventually it was Krestanovich that had the last word with Braehead’s seventh goal and round off a worthwhile trip to Kirkcaldy, not only for the players, but the masses of fans as well. Braehead can start looking towards Coventry and fifth place when they face the Blaze in their next game. Fife can only hope the other teams in the league can do them a favour and keep beating Dundee, Edinburgh and Hull to keep them in the play-off reckoning.
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- Dutiaume curses lack of luck for Flyers
