Marcus Basara kept his cool to slot home deep into sudden death overtime last night to secure a welcome win for Fife Flyers over Nottingham Panthers.
The 26-year-old Canadian-born right-wing scored the first two goals as Fife moved into a lead inside the first 12 minutes.
He was assisted by Carlo Finucci for the first after six minutes and Craig Moore for the second, which arrived after 11min 15sec.
Ollie Betteridge pulled one back just over two minutes later for Panthers but Finucci turned from provider to goal scorer just over four minutes later with Paul Crowder supplying the final pass for a 3-1 lead.
It did not take long for Panthers to be back on level terms and both goals were scored with Fife under penalty.
Jon Rheault made it 3-2 after one minute and 12 seconds of the middle session and their top marksman Alex Guptill levelled just after the midway point.
It stayed that way to the end of regulation and it was Basara’s third with 12 seconds left in sudden death overtime which clinched the two points.
On Saturday at Kirkcaldy Mike Cazzola and Danick Gauthier kept their cool to slot penalty shots as Flyers edged Guildford Flames in a tense tussle at Fife Ice Arena.
The Surrey-based combine had the best possible start, scoring after 27 seconds through Evan Ritt.
Fife levelled through Brett Bulmer on the power play after 22 minutes but just over three minutes after that they were behind for a second time.
This time it was Jamie Crooks who slotted home but Basara levelled at 2-2 after being set-up by Rick Pinkston with less than nine minutes left.
The scoreline stayed that way until the final whistle sent the game into sudden death overtime and then penalty shots.
Dundee Stars keep play-off hopes alive
Meanwhile, the Kitmart Dundee Stars kept their play-off hopes alive last night with a 3-1 win over the current Elite League champions as they postponed Cardiff’s title party.
Stars went in front in the eighth minute. A strong shot by Craig Garrigan almost beat Ben Bowns on his near post before Johan Andersson collected the puck and sent a pass straight across goal for Jordan Cownie to drift in at the back post and tap it in.
Lukas Lundvald thought he had doubled Stars’ lead but the play continued until the next whistle, which came three minutes later. The play was reviewed and after long deliberations, the goal was given as the puck had gone through the goal net.
Andrew Lord’s men nearly found a breakthrough, with Pontus Sjögren forced into a number of saves before all the Stars players and three from Cardiff crowded the space in front of the goal.
The puck was loose and kept popping out to the waiting Devils but they could not fire it through the wall of bodies in front of the net.
Dundee suffered a penalty when Connor Cox was boxed for a hooking foul in the 35th minute and the league leaders punished Stars when Mark Richardson’s deflected shot beat Sjögren.
With just over three minutes remaining, Stars were able to kill time with their powerplay but it did not stop them having a go for a third.
Matt Marquardt and Shawn Boutin forced good saves from the Cardiff netminder as he kept his side in the game.
However, as the penalty concluded, a desperate Devils side were keen to get forward but the puck was knocked back into their own end and Bowns left his net to play it but misjudged the bounce, allowing Lukas Lundvald to tap it home.
