Fife Flyers slipped to another defeat, this time at home, as Belfast Giants turned on the power in the final session to emerge with a 5-2 scoreline to complete a weekend win double over the Kirkcaldy combine.
The visitors fired three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes which saw tempers flare and the penalty count soar to 81 minutes to Fife and 54 for Giants as Flyers lost for the sixth straight occasion.
Earlier, Giants opened the scoring after 6min 27sec when Marcus Eriksson found the net but, just over two minutes later, Fife were back on level terms. Didrik Svendsen was set up by Kirkcaldy-born teenager Joe Lynch, an assistant captain with Scottish National League side, Edinburgh Capitals, who made his first appearance for Fife in midweek against Nottingham Panthers. Time: 8min 57sec.
Both sides changed their netminders at the end of the first session, Jackson Whistle coming in for Giants and Christian Purboo for Fife, and it was the visitors who broke through first, Scott Conway scoring after 25min 09sec with Eriksson setting up the chance.
Flyers stuck to their task and levelled for a second time, Ethan Somoza providing the final touch after good work by Ryan Nicholson and Josh Winquist. Time: 28min 40sec.
However, 3min 05sec into the final session Ryan Smith made it 3-2 for Giants and it became 4-2 when Nicolas Guay counted after 44min 34sec as Belfast continued to outshoot the home side.
That pressure paid off when Conway scored again for Belfast’s fifth after 54min 57sec with Eriksson again providing the ammunition, his second assist on the night.
Seconds later, tempers flared but, when the dust had settled, Fife were out shot 39-19 over the 60 minutes and Flyers’ coach Jamie Russell has repair work to do ahead of Wednesday’s Challenge Cup clash with Dundee at The Fife Ice Arena (7.30pm).
