Seven up for Clan despite Dee loss

A PENALTY shots loss in Dundee could not take the shine off another promising weekend for the Braehead Clan that offered up three valuable points.

Ryan Finnerty’s men were pipped on Tayside by the Stars on Sunday night as they went down 6-5.

However, the pain of only taking a point from the tie – one that they were 4-1 up in –will have been dampened by yet another rout of bitter rivals the Fife Flyers the night before.

In front of a sold-out Braehead Arena the men in purple claimed their seventh win of the season over the team from Kirkcaldy in a 5-2 victory.

Lee Baldwin opened the scoring before Alex Leavitt’s effort was deflected into his own net by former Clan man Ric Jackman. Cody Carlsson got the third.

Seabastien Thinel hit back for the visitors before Carlo Finucci closed the deficit to just one after two periods.

It was not a comeback that was to trouble the home side, though. Mike Hammond grabbed his first of the night to steady the purple ship only to then compete his brace by firing into an empty net as the clock ticked down.

Moving to the Dundee Ice Arena 24 hours later, Braehead took a stunning 3-1 lead into the opening break, Matt Haywood, Matt Beca and captain Matt Keith scoring against Kevin Hart’s strike for the Stars.

However, Dundee turned the game on its head in the second period. Clan took a three-goal lead when Scott Aarssen made it 4-1, but efforts from Matt White, Kevin Bruijsten and Mikael Lidhammer levelled the tie going into the final period.

With just nine minutes to go Bruijsten grabbed his second to put Marc Lefebvre’s men ahead, but Haywood’s second sent the game into overtime.

The teams couldn’t be separated when three on three, meaning the match was to be decided on penalties. Beca and Scott Pitt hit their mark for Braehead but the three goals scored by the home side were enough to clinch the bonus point.

The result means Braehead sit fifth in the Elite League table as they go into a February with six home games on the spin.