Cardiff Devils vs Glasgow Clan

The Premier Sports sponsored Glasgow Clan suffered a hard-to-accept road loss despite a resilient performance with some key stand out players as the Cardiff Devils claimed two big points in their ongoing fight at the top of the table.

Glasgow suffered further injuries to there already depleted squad with Darien Kielb and Rob Lachowicz being ruled out of this game with upper body injuries, leaving them with just 15 skaters in Wales.

Cardiff on the other hand, had four full lines of forwards but were forced to start Christian Stoever in net after Ben Bowns suffered an injury last night in Manchester.

Brandon Estes started the game off with a huge hit in front of the Clan bench to knock Rylan Schwartz to the ice to set the tone early for what would be yet another physical encounter between the two sides this season.

A defensive turnover by Gleason Fournier allowed Schwartz in on net all alone later in the period and the #71 handled the puck well as he drove at Stoever but couldn’t get a clean shot off as the netminder paddled it away with ease.

Cole Sanford cycled the puck back into the neutral zone to generate space up top and break through the Clan’s D-core which saw a four-on-one develop and Jimmy Oligny got the final shot off but Brine stood tall to steer it wide.

Brine continued to shine in the Clan net throughout the opening period, forcing Sam Duggan’s shot onto the bar and over before coming off his line to deny Fournier’s blast from the high slot

The highlight of the first period came when Kohen Olischefski broke a check from Schwartz to allow himself in on net with Brine saving his initial shot before having to sprawl out on his line to cut off the rebound by Brett Ferguson on the doorstep.

The Devils did a great job of not allowing Glasgow to take shape offensively in the first 20 minutes, but in the middle period, Clan found break throughs with Tristin Langan being denied on a drive from the right wing by the blocker of Stoever.

Miihkali Teppo fizzed a shot through traffic which was blocked by a body before Hugo Roy played it back to the Finn who’d made his way to the crease and tried to stuff the puck over the line but was prevented by a poke check from Estes.

Glasgow were in the ascendancy in the second period, but it was Cardiff who found a breakthrough with Tyson Helgesen beating Teppo with a pass to the right circle for Riley Brandt to come onto and slam high over Brine.

Evan Mosey struck the bar with a wide shot from the right side before the end of the period as the Devils entered the third with the one-goal lead.

The Clan started the third period off with an unreal defensive sequence as Brine saved a Josh MacDonald slap shot with his face mask before a pass to the backdoor for Cole Sanford was cut off by a diving Brady Risk on a heroic back check.

Langan then travelled with speed at Stoever but was denied by his pads on a wrist shot before trying to poke the loose rebound through his five hole before the American netminder sat on the puck to freeze the play.

Risk stripped Oligny of the puck in the Clan zone and charged up ice on a breakaway but had his shot muffled by Oligny who burst back to help his defence while Stoever continued his great showing in net with a top-save.

Despite going on the powerplay while having a sixth skater over the boards in the final minute, Glasgow were held off by a stubborn Devils defence as the hosts ended their week with a shutout win.

Brine was awarded player of the game for the second-straight time for Glasgow with an impressive 97.73% save percentage, completing his weekend with 74 saves, 2 assists, but crucially only two points.