Fife Flyers lost 4-3 at home to Elite League pace-setting Sheffield Steelers, but they dug deep to give the men from The House of Steel a scare.
The Kirkcaldy club roared back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 and then clawed their way back into the game at 4-3 after Steelers moved 4-2 ahead.
However, Steelers went home with the points leaving Fife on a downer ahead of their Challenge Cup, quarter-final, second-leg against Guildford Flames in Surrey on Wednesday in which they will try to recover a 3-1 first-leg deficit.
Fife held Steelers scoreless for 16 minutes but the deadlock was broken when Scott Allen counted short-handed. Nine minutes later it was 2-0 for the visitors when Patrick Watling netted and Steelers were dominant, Shane Owen, Fife’s goaltender, having 24 shots to save against seven from his opposite number, Matthew Greenfield, in the opening session.
But, back came Flyers. Troy Lajeunesse sparked the comeback when he was set up by Johan Eriksson and Kyle Osterberg for their opener after 26min 17sec and Max Humitz claimed their second in the 32nd minute with Collin Shirley and Sean Giles involved in the move.
Sadly, the push back did not last as five minutes after that Sheffield edged ahead with two goals in two minutes. Mikko Juusola made it 3-2 and Josh Nicholls added a fourth near the end of the middle session.
Fife refused to throw in the towel and pressed for a third which arrived with under seven minutes left, newcomer Vitalijs Pavlovs netting unassisted to have the fans on their feet.
Coach Tom Coolin called at time out with under two minutes left but Steelers held out for the win.
Elsewhere, Glasgow Clan earned a point in a 3-2 defeat by second-placed Cardiff Devils who won in overtime thanks to a goal from Trevor Cox 52 seconds into the extra session before a crowd of 3,377 at Braehead.
PICTURE: Fife in action at Manchester on Saturday courtesy of the Elite League.
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.
