Fife Flyers earned their first win since a 5-4 success at Manchester Storm on January 18 when they edged Scottish rivals, Glasgow Clan, 3-2 after a nerve-jangling shootout at Kirkcaldy in the Elite League.
Left wing Kieran Craig slotted in the shootout after the pair could not be separated after 60 minutes of regulation time and an extra session.
Earlier, Fife opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Charles-Antoine Paiement netted with Phelix Martineau setting up the chance but Clan levelled with a short-handed goal when Felix Pare hit the rigging after 23 minutes.
Ben Brown was called for a delay of the game penalty by sending the puck out of play and Clan capitalised. Tyson McLellan scored in the 31st minute on the power play.
The score stayed that way until 53 minutes when Michael Cichy was set up by Paiement to level at 2-2 and set up a tense finale.
The sides could not be separated a the final whistle, despite Flyers being penalised with 1min 15sec left for having too many men on the ice. They survived, but Fife had been heavily outshot, 47-26.
Into overtime and the pair could still not be parted so on with a shootout with 23-year-old, Ontario-born, Craig, who had previously scored nine goals in 17 games since arriving at Kirkcaldy during the season, the hero.
It was coach Johnny Curran’s first home win since taking over as interim coach but Fife are still anchored at the bottom of the ten-strong table with ten points from 40 games, 19 adrift of second-bottom Storm and 28 behind Dundee Stars who are in the eighth and final qualifying slot.
PICTURE: Johnny Curran on the bench, courtesy of the Elite league
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