Purple pain as Clan go down in Flames
Glasgow Clan’s season has come to a premature end after damaging results at the weekend meant they finished bottom of the Elite Ice Hockey League after the final round of matches.
The Purple Army were in contention to make it through to the season-ending play-offs, with the league being extremely tight among the bottom five.
But their hopes were dashed after a 6-3 away loss against Guildford Flames on Saturday, leaving them needing a win from their final game.
It was still in their hands, but with the home crowd cheering them on at the Braehead Arena against Cardiff Devils on
Sunday, the Clan could not overcome the second-placed side, losing 8-5, to leave them rock bottom of the EIHL after the 54 games of the regular season.
Clan made the worst possible start to Sunday’s all-or-nothing match, conceding within the first two minutes. Cardiff’s Joey Martin secured the goal after also having hit the crossbar in the first 30 seconds. Joey Arneil made it two to the Devils and Cole Sandford added a third for the visiting side before the end of the first period.
The game was running away from the Clan already. With the Purple Army’s season slipping away, Cardiff’s Chad Pietroniro extended the Devils’lead to four in the second period to leave Clan with a mountain to overcome.
Darien Craighead gave them hope, opening the Clan’s account to make the score 4-1, but any optimism was quickly quashed when Sandford bagged his second of the night to make it 5-1 to the Devils.
Charlie Combs added a second for Clan at the buzzer for the end of the second period, cutting the deficit to three ahead of the final third of the match.
And when Matt Berry rebounded Dyson Stevenson’s shot into the net suddenly Clan were within striking distance of their opponents again.
In truth, Cardiff never looked troubled, re-extending their lead through Evan Mosey, to make it 6-3. Jordan Cownie scored a fourth for Clan to again reel the Devils in a bit closer, but Mosey added a second shortly after, dispatching a penalty shot past Clan keeper Antti Karjalainen to make it 7-4.
Combs got his second of the game before Ryan Barrow then wrapped up the game for the away side to score into an empty net after Karjalainen had been swapped out for an extra attacker. That left a final scoreline of 8-5 and brought the curtain down on Clan’s season.
Speaking to EIHL media after the game, Clan coach Jason Morgan said:“It’s disappointing. It’s been a tough year. But the guys battled through a lot. Credit to the guys, they fought to the end, but the better team came out on top tonight.
“A few times we got to within a couple of goals but it seems that they capitalised on our big breakdowns. It was a great group to work with but unfortunately we didn’t’ accomplish the goals we wanted and it came down to the final week, and with any luck it could have gone our way.”
Assistant Coach Jeff Battah departed the club after the final match.