GAME REPORT: Dramatic late Roy winner secures win over Fife
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Glasgow Clan 3 Fife Flyers 2
A dramatic late winner from Mathieu Roy secured a big two points as Glasgow Clan returned home in the best possible way with a 3-2 win over Fife Flyers.
With the Challenge Cup group wide open, Clan needed victory to keep their hopes up of progressing and did so in a battling victory over their Scottish rivals.
As expected, a full-blooded high tempo affair was played out in the early stages, with both teams keen to make their mark on what is traditionally a fiery fixture.
The visitors had the best chance in the opening minutes when a breakaway saw Chase Schaber feed Kyle Just, but didn’t count on an excellent stop from Clan goalie Patrick Killeen to deny him.
However, it was the Flyers that scored the goal to give them the lead a few minutes later when Linden Springer couldn’t move the puck, allowing Fife to break forward.
Tim Crowder took it on down the inside left and delivered a low diagonal finish past Killeen to give Todd Dutiaume’s men a lead after ten minutes.
Clan waited until the final stages of the opening period to draw themselves level as Scott Pitt finished low from close range from a Mathieu Roy pass and parity was restored.
Carlo Finucci saw an opportunity saved, but it wasn’t long before the Flyers edged in front as Tim Crowder turned provider to tee up James Livingston, who executed a short-range finish.
A Nolan LaPorte effort forced Fife goalie Adam Morrison into an excellent save as the Clan man found himself in space at the hash marks.
But Killeen up the other end was in top form as he denied two former Clan men in Bari McKenzie and Jordan Buesa to keep the difference at one.
The home side thought they had equalised when Chad Rau forced in the puck from in front of the crease, but was ruled out with the nets deemed to have been moved.
That equaliser finally came on the powerplay as Travis Ehrhardt, at the blue line, spied Mikael Lidhammar in a pocket of space at the near post and the Swede turned the puck into the net.
Roy delivered the winner with a minute and a half to go as Matt Pufahl took the puck around the net, finding the forward in a position to send the puck into the net and secure two big points.
