Clan aren’t daring enough to trouble ruthless Devils
BEN RAMAGE
It was a sobering night for Clan as they crashed to a 5-3 loss against Cardiff Devils in their Elite League opener.
The Braehead outfit made their way to South Wales on Sunday on the back of a disappointing 6-1 Challenge Cup defeat at Belfast Giants.
However, it took the visitors little more than four minutes to go in front as Nolan LaPorte did well to move himself into a scoring position from where he executed a good finish, even if it was helped in by a Devils skate.
The home side pulled level after 11 minutes when Mathieu Roy’s effort at the back post, sparked a break up the other end as Cardiff found some ice to move in.
Mike McNamee delivered the finish for Andrew Lord’s side and the Devils and Clan were level pegging in an entertaining first session.
Devils had a five- on- three opportunity with Mikael Lidhammar and Linden Springer both occupying seats in the penalty box which allowed Cardiff to edge in front.
A shot from Gleason Fournier left Patrick Killeen beaten on the powerplay and a one- goal lead for the visitors had suddenly become a one-goal deficit.
Matt Haywood tried a wraparound in the final minutes of the first, but Bowns was more than equal to it.
Killeen had to be on his toes in the second, making two key saves, one from Blair Riley and with the help of the bar as the Devils looked to build on their lead.
Scott Tanski made Bowns work up the other end with a chance shorthanded, while Scott Pitt and Roy combined, but couldn’t get the killer touch.
Then with 29 seconds to go, Riley’s tip ended up past Killeen to deliver a blow to Clan after what had been a good performance in the middle period.
Cardiff picked up their fourth earlier in the third as Matt Pope fired in from the centre and the task was looking increasingly difficult for Zack Fitzgerald and his team.
This proved even more so when Mark Richardson scored on the powerplay to make it 5- 1 and last season’s league runners-up were very much in control of the scoreline.
Clan hit back themselves with the extra man as Matt Pufahl netted after he was set up by Pitt as the gap was reduced to three with nine minutes remaining.
The away side weren’t out of it yet and when Roy finished one from close range with four to go, it set up a tense finish. However, the Devils held on for victory.
Clan have the chance to make amends when they take on the Devils on Saturday, again at the Viola Arena.