Preview vs Flyers

League Record So Far; 24 – 9 – 1, 49pts, 2nd Place

Insert attempt at witty Valentines poem here and lets go – Considering the importance of this game, it certainly will not be a love affair this Valentines Night.

Flyers remain the only Scottish team to defeat the good guys in regular season contests this season, with tonight being the 12th meeting against a Scots club, this will certainly be a very good game.

Of late, the visitors are finding form and battling through games and off-ice issues to grab the victories that have lifted them out of the bottom two and into playoff contention. The question is, can they maintain this against the leagues most in-form team right now?

Yes, you have read that correctly. Despite the fact the leaders seldom lose, of the last 10GP, Devils have had 9 straight wins, where they share the same record overall (9 – 1 – 0), consistency leans to the good blokes. Small victories.

The leaders last loss came at the hands of the Flyers, however, these wins have all been at the Auld Barn in Kirkcaldy, away from home, the odds stack in favour of their opponents.

Series So Far

So far in the series, the Devils have slotted home 14 times and conceded just 4. Scoring shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as recent results on the weekend took a very adventurous turn, with one game ending 9-7 in favour of the visitors and the good guys ruffled the feathers of Storms’ top brass with a 6-1 road win.

To be expected for this fixture is the return of the Devils contingent of GB heroes, following their 100% record in Olympics Pre-Qualification for the final round to be played in Aalborg, Denmark later this year.

Breakdowns

This midweek fixture is part of an already busy schedule, whether a team has a long road journey or not. Fife are currently 3rd in L5GP and 4th in L10GP respectively, so they will be keen to continue their own momentum and attack the league as much as possible in the standings.

In terms of special teams, Devils still hold 2nd overall on the PP with 27%. One of their best showings for quite some time. Fife at 18.42% sit 9th overall.

On the PK, Devils dropped recently from top to 8th, recently improving to 7th overall at 76.04%. Fife sit at 5th on the PK at 76.92%. A marginal difference, however, Devils do have the 2nd best GA record in the league, Fife currently languish at 9th.

With this, the tip would be to stay out of the box as anything can happen on the power play for either side.

This is where the contrast flips the other way, as for most PIMS/Game suggest, Devils are 8th at 10.62 in the league, a slight improvement in the past week. Fife meanwhile sit at 2nd overall, at 8.55, which suggests discipline will be key in this contest.

For goalie tandems, Devils are again second to the league leaders with a combined 2.56 GAA, but Fife have struggled with injury of late in that department, but have made progress to lock it down and build on it. They also sit 9th overall but can see this improving as there is not much difference between them at 5th.

Who To Watch

It goes without saying that Goal Sanford should be one to watch as he currently sits joint top goal scorer in the league, of which he has had a great run of form for putting up points, 7 in his last 4 games, so can he add some more and continue his streak?

Crawford is the only Devil to hit 40 points so far this season, continuing his impressive PP/G pace. He also has a similar record but extends to his L5GP, putting up 7 points also.

Along the way, the GOAT has found some form, hitting 5 points in his last 4GP also. He is projected for just 30 points this season, reflecting a campaign that has seen his play become more effective off the puck than being the engine to drive over the line.

Flying under the radar is Trevor Cox, who has been quietly going about his business whilst being placed wherever he is required in the line up. Stretching back to 7 games running, he has picked up 9 points during this stretch.

For the visitors, Osterberg (37) and Lajeunesse (36) are their most dangerous players this season, with Osterberg being on a 6 game streak for 11 points in that stretch.

His counterpart has also been keeping the pace for his team, until the previous game, his points record was spectacular with 21 points from 12GP. Heater.