Capital result as Clan seal elusive win

Craig Ritchie

Braehead Clan ended a run of four straight losses with a crucial 5- 3 victory over Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday night.

Clan had been struggling for form heading into the clash at Braehead Arena. But they proved to themselves and the supporters that we were willing to fight for the points in a well-earned win for John Tripp’s side.

The hosts started well as they raced ahead in the opening period.

The home side struck first to give themselves a fantastic start as player/coach Brendan Brooks pulled the puck back for newlyappointed club captain Ville Hämäláinen to poke home the opener.

Clan continued to create a number of chances, with Jordan Buesa seeing his effort blocked by Caps keeper Pavel Shegalo.

Craig Peacock also tried his luck, but Shegalo was again in fine form.

But their second of the night would soon follow as Peacock’s effort from the right was deflected home by Brooks to give the hosts a two-goal cushion.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Clan, with Ryan Nie having to be at his very best to keep out strikes from Mike Cazzola and Pavel Vorobyev before the end of the first period.

Edinburgh soon got themselves on the scoresheet shortly after the restart as Dillon Lawrence finally struck past Nie to make it 2-1.

But Clan soon reopened the twogoal lead when Jacob Doty slotted past Shegalo after finding himself one-on-one.

Brooks then went close to another but his strike came flying back off of the Caps’s far post.

However, their fourth goal came at the end of the middle period with a well-taken effort by Christoffer Bjorklund to make life comfortable for the home side.

Edinburgh clawed their way back into the game as they took advantage of penalties to pull themselves back from 4-1 to 4-3 through Marek Tvrdon and Sergei Banashkov, with 10 minutes to go.

But an empty net powerplay goal from Brooks late on sealed the points for the home side.