Belfast Giants 9 Fife Flyers 1
Elite League/Challenge Cup Group A - Friday 23rd September 2011
Fife Flyers had no answer to a rampant Giants side who regained top spot in the league standings. Jeff Mason, Ryan Crane, Brock McBride and Robert Dowd all got a brace. With all the goal coming in the first two periods.
The first period was only 67 seconds old when Giants got their first marker on the board with a strike from Jeff Mason. They then had to wait until 12.10 before adding a second from the stick of Adam Keefe on a shorthanded play.
Ryan Crane added a third with a powerplay strike at 16.42 and just over two minutes later Brock McBride made it 4-0 as he struck home at 18.54.
The Giants went nap with another powerplay goal and a second goal of the game for Jeff Mason at 21.44. At 25.49 Danny Stewart got the Flyers on the board as he dispatched the puck past Murphy.
There was to be no comeback for the Flyers after this goal, as a Robert Dowd double at 31.04 that saw Flyers change goaltenders with Daly going between the pipes. Before he had time to warm up Dowd on the powerplay at 32.56 extended the Giants lead to 7-1.
The Giants added further markers before the end of the period as Ryan Crane got his second of the game at 36.09. This was followed by a strike from Brock McBride at 39.17 to give him his brace. With the game won and with Murphy’s chances of a shutout gone Giants put backup goaltender Andrew Dickson in nets for the third period. He had an easy 20 minutes as he only faced two shots. The same can’t be said about his counterpart Blair Daly as in that third period he faced 18 shots and turned every one of them away.
Period Scores: 4-0, 5-1, 0-0
Penalty Mins: Bel 8 – Fif 28
Powerplay: Bel 3/9 - Fif 0/4
Shots On Goal: Belfast: Stephen Murphy 11 / Andrew Dickson 2 & Fife: Garrett Zemlak 27 / Blair Daly 18
Referee: Michael Hicks
Report courtesy of R & J Stats
Fife Flyers 3 Edinburgh Capitals 2
Challenge Cup Group A - Saturday 24th September 2011
It’s been way too long but at last the Fife v Edinburgh derby’s are back and at the end of this Challenge Cup encounter it was the Fifers who were celebrating as they picked up their first win of the season after a ‘difficult’ start by edging it by the od goal in five and coming from behind to do so.
The game took some time to settle but when it did it was Capitals who were first to score with Rene Jarolin firing home at 13.33. The teams and the crowd were fired up as Jozef Sladok of Capitals and Matt Siddall of Flyers were binned for fighting at 15.47 and 12 seconds later Flyers were level as Mike Hamilton hit the net on a shorthanded play.
That ended the first period scoring and indeed neither side could add to their tally in the second period despite Capitals enjoying a 20 to 4 shot advantage and Flyers having Danny Stewart ejected on a 5 + game for spearing in the 38th minute.
Into the third and surely the visitors thought the game had turned their way at last when Peter Holecko shot them 2-1 ahead at 48.15 on the powerplay but this was far from the case as the visitors then got into penalty trouble and Flyers took absolute advantage by scoring twice on the powerplay through Matt Cohen at 53.03 and Siddall at 54.05 to nick it in the end from a stunned Capitals side.
Period Scores: 1-1, 0-0, 2-1
Penalty Mins: Fif 46 – Edi 25
Powerplay: Fif 2/9 – Edi 1/9
Shots On: Garrett Zemlak 39 – Nathan Craze 16
Referee: Andy Carson
Hull Stingrays 3 Fife Flyers 2 (After Penalty Shots)
Rapid Solicitors Elite League - Sunday 25th September 2011
It took a penalty shot from Dmitry Rodin to decide the outcome of this game. After 65 minutes of hockey the teams were level at two apiece and round three of the penalties saw Rodin get the game winner, to give the Humberside team their first league win.
Only one goal separated the teams after the first session and it came the way of the home team at 7.03 as Jereme Tendler netted on the powerplay.
The second stanza again only saw the one goal this time it came from the visitors at 32.01 as Steve Gunn squared the game up at one apiece.
The third period saw Fife start without goaltender Garrett Zemlac who was ejected at the end of the second period on a 5 + game for excessive roughness.
The hosts took advantage of this straight away as inside the first minute of the third period, Dmitry Rodin put them in front for the second time with a goal at 40.51. However, Fife player/coach Todd Dutiame levelled things once again with a powerplay goal at 49.16.
This was how it remained throughout the remainder of the period and the five minutes of overtime. The game would be decided by a penalty shootout.
The first round of penalties saw Tendler and Stewart as the only markers. The second round saw all three attempts by both teams missed. Onto round three, Hamilton missed for Fife leaving Rodin to net his and give the Stingrays the extra point.
Period Scores: 1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0 (2-1)
Penalty Mins: Hul 16 – Fif 37
Powerplay: Hul 1/5 -Fif 1/5
Shots On: Hull - Christian Boucher 25 & Fife - Garrett Zemlak 18 / Blair Daly 17
Referee: Dean Smith
