There was disappointment for two of Scotland’s clubs, Fife Flyers and Glasgow Clan, in major games in the Premier Sports Elite League.
Michael McNicholas opened Fife Flyers’ account with less than seven minutes left of their Challenge Cup, quarter-final, first-leg at high-flying Sheffield Steelers.
And his strike set up by Craig Peacock and Jacob Benson could yet prove valuable after Sheffield skated to a 5-1 win in The House of Steel.
The sides square-up again at Kirkcaldy on Wednesday, January 19, and it will be a massive task as Fife prop up the ten-strong Elite League table and Sheffield are second.
Earlier, it was Robert Dowd who opened the scoring for the home side on the power play after nine minutes but Fife kept the scoreline the same until the 48th minute.
Then Matias Sointu netted and the goal was quickly followed by a third from Evan Mosey. Time 50min 26sec.
Fife’s joy at the goal from McNicholas was short lived as Down scored his second and Sheffield’s fourth less than two minutes later and Vojtech Polak unassisted made it 5-1 only 14 seconds later in a game in which Steelers outshot Fife 29-19.
Meanwhile, Cardiff Devils moved to the top of the ten-strong Elite League thanks to a narrow 3-2 win over Glasgow Clan at Braehead.
The Scots piled on the pressure in the closing stages, withdrawing netminder Shane Starrett to have six skaters, but Devils highly-rated netminder Taran Kozun kept his cool, pulling off two great stops.
Jake Coughler’s double after six and ten minutes saw the visitors move 2-0 ahead, dominating the opening period with a shot count of 16 against nine in reply.
But a rocket from well out from Mitch Jones provided Clan, sponsored by Aspray West Glasgow, with a lifeline after 31 minutes only for Stephen Dixon to latch onto a loose puck when Glasgow failed to clear their lines 1min 16sec into the final session to put Cardiff 3-1 ahead.
Another rocket shot, this time from Tim Shoup on the power play, provided a second for the home side after 45 minutes but Clan failed to find an equaliser as the Welsh combine continued their dominance over the Scots.
In the West of Scotland, Cardiff Devils moved to the top of the ten-strong league thanks to a narrow 3-2 win over Glasgow Clan at Braehead.
The Scots piled on the pressure in the closing stages, withdrawing netminder Shane Starrett to have six skaters, but Devils highly-rated netminder Taran Kozun kept his cool, pulling off two great stops.
Jake Coughler’s double after six and ten minutes saw the visitors move 2-0 ahead, dominating the opening period with a shot count of 16 against nine in reply.
But a rocket from well out from Mitch Jones provided Clan with a lifeline after 31 minutes only for Stephen Dixon to latch onto a loose puck when Glasgow failed to clear their lines 1min 16sec into the final session to put Cardiff 3-1 ahead.
Another rocket shot, this time from Tim Shoup on the power play, provided a second for the home side after 45 minutes but Clan failed to find an equaliser as the Welsh combine continued their dominance over the Scots.
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