A couple of early goals less than 2 minutes apart helped Flames to a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way as they secure an aggregate lead heading to leg 2 of the Cup quarter final thanks to a 3-1 win at Fife Flyers in the opening game.
Peter Crinella and Patrick Bajkov got Flames off to the quick start with goals at 3:37 and 5:24, respectively. Flyers cut their deficit in half in the 12th minute through Max Humitz.
Inside the last 5 minutes of the middle set, Crinella’s 2nd of the contest sent Flames to the final break enjoying the 2 goal spread and the final 20 minutes melted away with no further scoring.
Eamon McAdam made 26 saves on 27 shots and Shane Owen was 39 of 42.
“I thought we played well,” said Paul Dixon. “We generated a good number of shots and opportunities, we had a good portion of territorial play and we limited their chances.”
“In this format it is always nice to be going to the final game with a lead, but we would be fools to believe a 2 goal lead against a team who can score like they can is enough to cruise through leg 2.”
“We get to have it at home, and hopefully when the puck drops we can get another early jump and make sure that we are dictating what happens with the current scoreline and not the other way around.”
