Storm blank Flyers to end losing run

Photo: Mark Ferris

Evan Weninger logged a 29-shot shutout to backstop Manchester Storm to a 4-0 win over Fife Flyers on Saturday night, ending his side's six-game losing run but extending the Flyers' to five without a win in the process.

Storm outshot their opponents 29 to 7 in the opening 20 minutes, but struggled to create any Grade A scoring chances on Shane Owen with the majority of attempts coming from distance. The visitors took three straight minors, however, which eventually caught up with them - Cam Critchlow got on the rebound of Dallas Ehrhardt's shot to beat Owen in close at 14:19 for the only goal of the first period.

Will Merchant doubled the home side's lead 8:33 into period two with a tip of an Ehrhardt shot from the point in a period that saw seven penalties called across the 20 minutes. The most notable was Brady Pouteau getting a Boarding minor which could easily have been more, and led to a scrum between both sets of players. Critchlow added his second of the night at 37:26 to put Storm in total control through two periods.

Samuel Tremblay was unlucky to not make it 4-0 but saw his shot came back off the post, however a little over five minutes later he did well to keep the puck in the offensive zone and feed Tyler Himan to shoot past Owen with 6:22 remaining. That was the game's final goal as the visitors failed to trouble Weninger in the closing stages.