The Fife Flyers used their powerplay to beat the Genting Casino Coventry Blaze 5-2 in the Elite League on Saturday.
After beating the Elite League title chasing Cardiff Devils at home on Wednesday, Blaze coach Danny Stewart opted to keep the same line-up.
Blaze started brightly in the early going and went ahead on the powerplay at 3.55 when Flyers’ defenceman Aleksi Makela was assessed a 2+2 minor penalty.
Danny Kristo made a perfect pass to the back post to record his 23rd assist of the season and 36th point, and Ian McNulty had the tap-in goal which was his 17th of the campaign and team leading 44th point.
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Flyers responded well and were level at 11.14 when their top point producers combined to make it 1-1.
Troy Lajeunesse was the provider for Kyle Osterberg who finished well on a breakaway past Taran Kozun.
Neither side were able to generate any more offence in the opening twenty minutes and the first period ended even.
Just ahead of the mid-way point Fife’s powerplay came alive and after some quick puck movement, Max Humitz fired into the Blaze goal from in-front to give the home side a 2-1 lead.
With 2.28 remaining in the second, Humitz scored again on the powerplay, taking just four seconds on a Coventry penalty to make it 3-1.
Blaze got themselves back into the game at 43.13 when Captain Brady Norrish hammered a shot past Shane Owen in the Flyers goal to record his 11th of the season and make it 3-2.
Coventry’s joy was short-lived as Lajeunesse and Osterberg again combined to restore Fife’s two-goal lead on 45.20.
With the clocking ticking down, any chance of a Blaze comeback was ended when Teemu Pulkkinen scored Fife’s third powerplay goal of the night on a 5-on-3 to end the scoring 5-2 with 3.53 remaining.
Photo credit: Flyers Images
