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Fife lose on first visit to Braehead
Photograph of the Braehead Clan in action against the Fife Flyers copyright of George Monaghan: www.monapics.com.
By Mark McGeever
As Fife Flyers visited Glasgow for their first ever meeting with Braehead Clan few expecting much of a contest, but a determined performance from the visitors meant Clan had to fight until the end for the win.
The match started as expected, with Braehead pegging the visitors in so deep that the first period seemed to be almost completely played out in the Flyers defensive zone. It took only four minutes for Clan to take the lead; centre Jordan Krestanovich steering the puck home from the front of the net after the visitors failed to clear Jade Galbraith’s pass across the crease.
It was all one way traffic and the Glasgow side doubled their lead just moments later. A penalty to Fife player-coach Todd Dutiaume for tripping Galbraith saw shots rain down on the Flyers goal, and Clan defenceman James Jorgensen bagged his first for the club. After fine goaltending had denied Galbraith and Bannister, the puck worked its way to Jorgenson at the blue line, who rifled a shot low into the Fife net.
Ten minutes passed before Fife managed to threaten Clan goaltender Jaakko Suomalainen, but a quick breakout from defence allowed Danny Stewart to drive a shot from left wing, The former Newcastle Viper kept the puck low and hard, but his shot was well held by the Finnish stopper.
Fife’s rare venture forward was soon forgotten though as a loose puck around the crease was turned home by Vince Connon. The Manxman found himself standing free of the Flyers defence, with plenty of time to casually lift the puck high into the net for Braehead’s third.
The home side came forward in waves and only a combination of desperate defending, outstanding goalkeeping by Garrett Zemlak, and some wayward Braehead shooting kept the score at 3-0. Zemlack pulled off a string of fine saves, even earning a standing ovation from the Braehead fans when he bravely blocked a Matt Haywood slapshot with his facemask.
Fife were struggling to stay in the game but as the first period drew to a close they somehow managed to pull a goal back.
In one of their few breakouts they managed to get numbers forward into the offensive zone, and a well-worked move down the right saw Mike Hamilton find his fellow British Columbian Matt Siddall in space at the right of the crease. Siddall’s snapshot from close range dinged the post before nestling in the home goal with just a second remaining in the period.
Getting on the score-sheet seemed to bolster the Flyers’ confidence, and when the teams returned for the second period it was a much less one sided affair.
An early tussle between Clan goalie Suomalainen and Fife’s Siddall saw both given two minute penalties for slashing, and just as the penalty was about to expire Clan added a fourth goal. With the Fife defence seeming to lose track of the puck behind their goal-line, Clan centre Brock McPherson was able to tuck it inside the goaltender’s right hand post on 22:06.
Fife refused to give the game up however and pulled the deficit back to two just after the half hour. With Clan enforcer Kyle Bruce serving two minutes for boarding Matt Siddall, the Flyers forward personally got his revenge. Cutting inside from right wing, he fired a shot past the Clan goaltender on 32:16 to make the score 4-2.
The game heated up with a series of chances at each end. Flyers’ hometown forward Jamie Wilson demonstrated full commitment to his side’s cause – the Kirkaldy native speed-skating to catch Clan forward Mike Bayrack then throwing his body between the Canadian forward and the puck, right as he bore down on goal.
The game seemed to take on a new energy with a series of huge hits from each side sending players sprawling and raising the noise inside the Braehead Arena. On 38 minutes Clan’s Bayrack and Flyers’ Matt Cohen were each given a two minute minor for boarding – though if not for the quick intervention of the linesman a full blown fight seemed inevitable.
Just 16 seconds later Clan player-coach Drew banister found himself in the sin bin, given two minutes for elbowing in the neutral zone. With four skaters against three the Flyers found plenty of space to move the puck around, and for the first time in the game were able to pin Braehead back on top of Suomalainen.
He made an excellent glove save from Siddall and turned a drive from the blue line wide with a fine half pad save. Siddall was causing all sorts of problems for the Clan penalty killers, striking the crossbar before Hamilton tucked the puck home to make the score 4-3 just seconds before the buzzer.
Clan took to the ice in the third period determined to secure the win, but wayward final passes and lacklustre shots saw the home side spurn several good chances to add to their lead. It took a moment of individual brilliance from Jordan Krestanovich to break the third period deadlock and restore a sense of confidence to the Braehead Arena.
On 48:50 he skated past several Fife players, turning 270 degrees inside the offensive zone while shielding the puck from the snapping defencemen. With fantastic stickwork Krestanovich deked to the backhand and lifted the puck high into the top right corner of the net, giving Clan a 5-3 lead.
Fife continued to fight hard and with ten minutes remaining Jaakko Suomalainen was again called into action, making a fine save from Mike Hamilton after the Flyers’ forward broke down the right wing and fired a shot from the blue line.
The fighting spirit of the Elite League new boys paid off on 52:27, with a fourth goal scored in controversial circumstances. Keeping possession at the boards in the offensive zone, Fife blasted the puck across the face of goal with it seeming to bounce off several bodies in the ruck of players crowding the Braehead crease, before landing in Suomalainen’s net. Despite loud appeals that Danny Stewart had batted the puck home with his hand, referee Neil Wilson was in a good position and had no hesitation in awarding the goal.
A remarkable comeback was on the cards but indiscipline cost the visitors any chance of equalising. Several heavy hits by both sides went unpunished by the referee, before Siddall barged Galbraith against the glass in the neutral zone. The home fans reacted angrily to what appeared a dangerous head hit, but the penalty called was only two minutes for roughing. Seconds later Galbraith was again in the thick of it, with Fife’s Kyle Horne penalized for slashing the Braehead forward.
Gifting Clan a five on three powerplay proved fatal, and a slapshot by Bayrack sailed past Zemlak to restore Clan’s two goal lead. To their credit Fife still refused to give up, pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker. Despite their efforts the scoring was rounded off by Braehead: Krestanovich’s empty net goal completing his hat-trick with 23 seconds left on the clock.
Braehead deserved the win but the 7-4 scoreline failed to do justice to a determined Flyers’ display. The visitors return to Fife without the points, but Todd Dutiaume may be happier with his team’s performance than Drew Bannister is the Clan’s.
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| 12th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-3 |
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4-5 |
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1-4 |
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4-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
2-4 |
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| 11th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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4-1 |
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5-2 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
3-7 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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- Bannister returns to Clan as coach
- Clan Captain Krestanovich back for 2012/13
- Will sticks with Clan
- Clan sign Scots born Ryan Watt
- McPherson back for second season with Clan
