Nottingham Panthers vs Glasgow Clan

The Premier Sports sponsored Glasgow Clan were beaten by a harsh score line which didn’t reflect the battling effort showed in a difficult road game against the league leading, Nottingham Panthers.

Clan were in control early with Austin Mitchell-King launching a shot from the blue line which bounced out in front to Hugo Roy who just missed the target with a first time backhand effort in close.

Felix Pare opened the scoring shortly after as Clan won a defensive zone faceoff while shorthanded and Steven Seigo rocketed the puck the full length of the ice for Pare to race onto and stuff home the first goal of the game.

Jason Grande performed well in the opening period for Nottingham, saving a high-speed slapshot from Rylan Schwartz before dropping quickly to cut off Colton Poolman’s first-time rebound.

Johnny Curran fanned on the Panthers’ best chance of the opening 10 minutes when Bryan Lemos had his shot saved by Sami Aittokallio only for the puck to fall to Curran’s stick at the backdoor but the shot was well wide.

Alfie Betteridge then blocked Seigo’s shot, as the Clan looked to double their lead on the powerplay, which allowed Matt Alfaro to pick up possession and charge up ice on a breakaway which he buried to give the hosts a shorthanded goal of their own.

In the second period, Rob Lachowicz received a drop pass from Pare while shorthanded and snapped a high shot on net which Grande had to snatch out the air.

Both goaltenders were hot in the middle frame with Nottingham and Glasgow being frustrated offensively as the chances just wouldn’t fall.

The Panthers did eventually find a route past Aittokallio though with Nolan Volcan darting into the slot following a scrum in the corner before backhanding a slow shot which was boosted by Chase Pearson to see it over the line.

Nottingham entered the third period ahead by one and the Clan were forced to make a change in net as Aittokallio took what appeared to be a puck to the ankle on a powerful shot from David Noel, seeing him out of the game.

Lucas Brine entered in net for the Clan and was called into action early in the third period with Alfaro and Ross Armour notching shots on net, but the young Brit stood tall to the challenge and kept Clan in the game.

Deven Sideroff made a bold charge on net from the left wing and tried to drag it to the backdoor but was cut off by a poke check from Grande as Lachowicz’ follow up attempt was steered wide.

Poolman and Alex Forbes also got shots on net which were well-saved by Grande as the Clan looked to be in the ascendency in their hunt for an equaliser in the final period.

Sideroff was denied by the pipework on a bomb from the top of the left circle later in the period before Matthew Marcinew dumped a shot from close on net at the other end which Brine managed to keep out but couldn’t hold onto and the loose puck rolled over the line off of the unfortunate skate of Miihkali Teppo.

Tim Doherty then snapped a shot from the right-side boards which bounced off the pads of Brine before falling to Armour who tapped home a fourth to seal the two-points for Nottingham and put them three-clear at the top of the EIHL standings.