REPORT: Blaze shut the door on Clan

Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan couldn’t make it a four point weekend as Coventry Blaze kept them out with a 2-0 win at the Skydome.

After clinching a play-off berth on Saturday, the new objective was seeding place, with both teams locked in a four-way battle for the highest possible standing.

It was an energetic start as each goalie was on alert in the early stages, with Colton Yellow Horn testing CJ Motte at one end then Ryan Penny denied by Shane Starrett at the other.

But it was the home side who took the lead when Coventry sprung forward on the breakaway, with Brayden Brown teeing up Alec Marsh with the finish after six minutes.

Motte did well to prevent Guillaume Gauthier shortly after and a chance from Yellow Horn started a short period of pressure for the visitors.

The second period was a tightly fought affair with chances, but little in the way of end product as Mitch Cook sent a shot over then Motte was forced into a good save by Mathieu Roy.

Coventry’s Johnny Curran thought he was getting somewhere with a chance, but Rodney Southam got the block from his stick.

As the period went on, Glasgow continued to cause issues for the Blaze defensive pack, but couldn’t find a way through as the middle session ended with Danny Stewart’s side still narrowly ahead.

One or two half chances early in the third showed Clan were not giving up on levelling the game, but their task was made a little harder six minutes into the final period.

Blaze got the jump on their opponents again, this time with Janne Laakkonen setting up Curran and he didn’t squander the opportunity, firing high past Starrett.

A tip from Matt Haywood went narrowly wide, but it Motte who really stepped up for his team in the remainder of the period.

Two chances from Roy and one from Southam either ended up in the Coventry goalie’s glove or in his body, with Gauthier not getting much change from him either.

It turned into one of those nights as Clan left the Skydome with nothing to show for their efforts as the regular season begins its final week.

Photos by Scott Wiggins