Fife Flyers claimed only their second win in six games when they edged arch rivals Dundee Stars 4-3 at Kirkcaldy to lift both the squad and their fans and keep their wafer thin Premier Sports Elite League play-off hopes alive.
The Kirkcaldy club remain bottom of the ten-strong Elite League with 35 points and trail Manchester Storm, who edged second-placed Sheffield Steelers 4-3 after a shootout, by five with both teams having played 49 games. There are five left in the regular season.
Above them are eighth-placed Guildford Flames with 44 points from the same number of fixtures, but they occupy the final play-off place.
Kristian Blumenschein broke the deadlock after 23 minutes and it was 2-0 five minutes later when Jacob Benson (pictured) netted.
Philippe Sanche reduced the deficit three minutes later but Fife hit back with a power play strike from Craig Peacock after 37 minutes.
And fired-up Fife made it 4-1 on the power play 12 minutes after that when captain Matthew Carter provided the finishing touch to a move involving Brandon Magee and Jonas Emmerdahl.
But Dundee refused to lie down and Spencer Dorowicz gave the visitors hope with a second with 1min 06sec left and Sanche netted his second of the night with six seconds left in a game in which Stars outshot their hosts 36-29.
Elite League: Fife Flyers 4, Dundee Stars 3; Manchester Storm 4, Sheffield Steelers 3 (after shootout); Belfast 5, Guildford Flames 0; Nottingham Panthers 4, Coventry Blaze 10
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