Squad crash in an eight-goal thriller
Craig Ritchie
Braehead Clan’s hopes of clinching the Challenge Cup hit a bump in the road as they fell to defeat in their Group A clash with Nottingham Panthers.
Clan carried their inconsistent league form into the cup competitions, with the English side coming away from Braehead Arena with a 5-3 win.
John Tripp’s side now have to regroup ahead of the weekend’s league clashes, where they will come up against Milton Keynes Lightning and Fife Flyers.
The visitors got off to the best possible start as they fired themselves in front inside three minutes. Yann Sauve was the man on hand to open the scoring as he powered home a drive from the blue line to make it 1-0.
But it didn’t take Clan long to respond to going behind, with player/ coach Brendan Brooks putting the Panthers under pressure as he drove through centre ice. He then simply squared to Tyler Scofield, who forced home the equaliser.
Panthers again got themselves back in front when Sauve repeated his heroics by blasting another from the blue line beyond a stranded Ryan Nie.
The goals continued to change hands as Scofield too got himself a double, with the assist coming from Craig Peacock as he swung in from the right and finished neatly past the Panthers goalie.
But Corey Neilson’s men would have the advantage at the end of the first period as Evan Mosey held off the threat of Clan’s Christoffer Bjorklund before squeezing the puck past Nie.
Into the second period and Clan knew that the next goal could prove crucial.
Unfortunately for them it came for the Panthers as Zack Phillips set up Mosey to bundle the puck home from close range beyond replacement keeper Gary Russell.
But John Tripp’s side reduced the deficit when some confusion in the Panthers defence allowed Tyler Shattock to tap into an empty net and give the home fans some hope heading into the final period.
Clan looked to somehow find the equalise,r but the blue-line strikes of Sauve continued to cause problems, and this time Josh Shalla of the Panthers got enough of a touch on one of the shots to divert the puck past Russell and confirm the Challenge Cup points.