Braehead Clan 3 – 4 Cardiff Devils
A record crowd descended upon Braehead Arena for this hotly anticipated fixture against the Cardiff Devils.
Sky Sports were in the building, broadcasting the game live, and the fans turned up in kind to give the cameras a show.
As did the Cardiff Devils, who left the Clan startled with a goal after only 41 seconds of play.
It wasn’t long until Cardiff went 2-0 up. The right side of Suomalainen’s goal was left wide open and Stuart MacRae took full advantage.
There was a clear spark on the ice, and it seemed inevitable that a fight should break out at some point. Neither team disappointed, as Cardiff’s Sam Smith and Braehead’s Sam Zajac violently clashed before being separated by officials. Smith was given a 5 min. fighting call, while Zajac was slapped with the same, plus 2 min. for instigation and a 10 min. misconduct penalty.
The Clan were prone to clumsy errors in centre ice, whereas Cardiff were playing with precision.
On the powerplay resulting from the fight, Cardiff extended their lead to 3. Jamie Vanderveeken blasted the puck from far out and caught Suomalainen sleeping.
History repeated itself; just two minutes later, Scott Matzka took a shot from roughly the same area as Vanderveeken, with similar results.
Cardiff were now 4-0 up in the first period, and the record-breaking Clan crowd had been well and truly deflated.
Clan went on a 5-on-3 power play after Vanderveeken and Phil Hill were served with calls for hooking and cross checking respectively. Drew Bannister had the best of the Clan’s opportunities, but Stevie Lyle made the first of a number of impressive glove saves to deny the goal.
At the start of the second period, Clan ‘did a Cardiff’ and got their first goal in the opening minute of the period at the hands of Jordan Krestanovich.
The first of two video reviews came shortly after. Kevin Phillips knocked the puck into the Devils’ net, and after the officials checked the footage, the goal was given.
With their first two goals, the Clan got a surge of energy and they started skating with real intensity again. Matt Haywood blasted a slapshot at the goal and looked certain to score, but Lyle somehow got his glove in the way, diving to the side in what must surely be one of the finest saves of the season.
This culminated in a third goal for the Clan, but after the second instance of video review, the officials disallowed it.
Braehead did finally get that third goal, during the third period. Ryan Campbell deftly skated round two Devils and fired the puck past Lyle, sending the crowd into a raptured frenzy. This gave another boost to the team, who started to really press for an equaliser.
Unfortunately for the home side, it was a futile attempt. Cardiff’s solid defending reappeared late in the game and denied the Clan that crucial fourth goal.
The Clan were outmuscled tonight, and that may have been a deciding factor in the final scoreline. Their skittish performance in the first period let them down and gave them too much of a mountain to climb.
Their defence tightened up considerably in the second and third periods, and Suomalainen had a great game thereafter.
Aside from an assist on Campbell’s goal, birthday boy Jade Galbraith was a bit of a non-entity in tonight’s game. The usual flair which has made him a firm fan favourite in a short space of time was nowhere to be seen.
Referee: Moray Hanson
Period Scores: 4-0 / 0-2 / 0-1
Power Play: Braehead 0/6 / Cardiff 1/2
Penalty Mins: Braehead 19 / Cardiff 17
MoM: Braehead #10 Jordan Krestanovich / Cardiff #17 Mark Richardson
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