Belfast Giants vs Glasgow Clan (Playoff QF)

The Premier Sports sponsored Glasgow Clan battled hard for a full 60 minutes but were unravelled by a late dagger from the Belfast Giants in the first of two legs in the EIHL Playoff Quarter Finals.

Glasgow had the majority of the chances in the opening period with Jason Fram getting the first good look at net from close range but his dash through the slot took him too far wide and allowed a simple stop for Jake Kupsky in the end.

Steven Seigo stepped up at the back for the Clan shortly after as he tipped a cross-zone pass from Conway to poke it just out of Ben Lake’s reach as he wound up a shot from the backdoor.

Carsen Twarynski then sent Mike Lee on a breakaway with a smart zone entry pass but an unimaginative attempt from the Giants’ top point scorer was easily stopped by Sami Aittokallio.

Daniel Tedesco was granted a golden chance before the end of the period as Cade Neilson found him all alone at the edge of the crease with a great pass but his shot on the spin crashed off the crossbar and stayed out.

Glasgow had to kill off a penalty in the closing minutes of the period as Miihkali Teppo was penalised for a high stick on the follow through of a clearance attempt but the special teams handled the pressure well to see the game into the first break scoreless.

In the second period, David Goodwin sparked an odd-man-rush for the hosts with JJ Piccinich in support but he couldn’t play a pass to his teammate at the backdoor as Joe Hazeldine put his body on the line with a slide through the slot to save his team.

Brett Neumann later had a chance with a breaking play at the edge of Kupsky’s crease but the puck bobbled out of his reach and fell to Tristin Langan who couldn’t keep his effort on target.

Piccinich was denied in the closing minutes as he tried to slip a one-time shot through the five hole of Aittokallio which saw the teams go to the break after 40 minutes without a goal.

Seigo was caught out at the back for the Clan as Nicholas Guay picked off his pass in the O-zone and burst at Aittokallio’s net before sliding an unselfish pass to Jordan Kawaguchi but the Glasgow captain got back and cleared the danger to make up for the mistake.

After a fairly uneventful 18 minutes in the final period in Belfast, Reid Irwin made a bustling run up left wing and slid a pass through the blue paint for Guay to arrive onto and poke home the opener with two minutes left in the first leg.

Rylan Schwartz came close to tying it up in the following play but Kupsky managed to scramble it away as the Giants claimed victory on home ice and will head to Glasgow tomorrow with a slender lead.