Collin Shirley slotted in overtime as fired-up Fife Flyers came from 3-1 down after 46 minutes to edge Coventry Blaze 4-3 and claim a valuable Elite League road win.
The 27-year-old Canadian winger or centre scored 1min 54sec into the extra session of a game the Scots were never ahead until the game-winner.
The visitors had the worst possible start when J D Dudek opened the scoring for the home side after only 20 seconds but Ben Hawerchuk levelled after 14 minutes.
Danny Kristo made it 2-1 for the Midlands combine in 37 minutes on the power play and Alessio Luciani netted No 3 nine minutes later and the writing was on the wall.
But Johan Eriksson pulled one back after 51 minutes and Troy Lajeunesse was set up by 6ft 2in Shirley and Kyle Osterberg with two seconds left of the game to level at 3-3 and set up the nail-biting finale in a game in which Fife were outshot 30-24.
Fife move up a place from ninth position and will look to earn a quick-fire double with bottom-markers Coventry visiting The Fife Ice Arena on Sunday (face-off 17.15).
Elsewhere, Dundee Stars edged Guildford Flames 5-4 thanks to a game-winner from Ryan Valentini.
Sunday also sees Glasgow Clan at league pace-setters Sheffield Steelers (16.00) and Dundee make the long trip to Surrey to play Guildford (18.00).
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
