REPORT: Nottingham Panthers 3 Glasgow Clan 6

Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan came from three goals down to complete an impressive third period comeback to beat Nottingham Panthers 6-3 on the road.

It was an impressive turnaround in a game where Clan created plenty of chances but had to be patient despite bottom of the table Panthers roaring into a three-goal lead.

Jake Kielly in the Clan goal was tested from early chances by Carl Neill and Alexander Lunsjo and although Charlie Combs had a decent effort at the other end, it was Panthers who opened the scoring.

Anthony Luciani was on hand to tee up Otto Nieminen, who executed a pinpoint finish over Kielly’s right shoulder and into the top corner of the net.

Clan responded but got nothing from home netminder Mike Robinson, who denied Ryan Harrison’s backhanded attempt then Jordan Cownie’s follow-up.

Jason Morgan’s side continued to cause problems as Matt Barry’s back post effort was blocked, while Philippe Sanche’s opportunity was also dealt with by Robinson.

Despite trailing after the first, Clan were very much still in the game and started the second period in positive fashion as they kept the pressure up.

However, they soon found themselves two down as Mike Caruso’s pass from the outside to Stephen Anderson, who had space to turn and lash a shot past Kielly and into the Clan net.

Robert Lachowicz saw his backhanded effort hit the bar as Glasgow resolved to try and get something on the board and such was the fine margin, it needed a video review, which found the puck hadn’t crossed the line.

To add insult to injury, Panthers then added a third as Anderson turned provider as the home side burst forward on a three-on-one breakaway, squaring to Lemay to apply another finish.

It nearly got worse as Clan, on a five-on-three powerplay, give up a penalty shot as Nottingham broke forward, where Hugo Roy was impeded by Darien Craighead.

Good fortune finally smiled on the Clan as Roy failed to score, then shortly after Gary Haden skated through the centre before lifting the puck into the roof of the net from a Nate Kallen pass.  Suddenly there was a lifeline.

Pelech’s big moment came early in the third when he got the final touch on a blueline shot from Alex Roach and took the puck beyond Robinson and Clan were within one.

Philippe Sanche did a similar thing to get the equaliser shortly after, getting a nick on Bryce Reddick’s cannon from the edge of the Panthers defensive zone.

Then, with just over five minutes to go, Clan got the go-ahead goal as Charlie Combs fired one on from that blue line area and Robinson was beaten once more.

This was followed up by Jordan Cownie with a rebounded finish to make sure of the points before Ryan Harrison slid in an empty net goal to end the night on a high note.