Clan extend gap over playoff chasers

Photo: Derek Black

Glasgow Clan extended the gap in the race for a playoff place to 14 points with a 5-2 win over Dundee Stars.

“It’s hard playing two games in a row on the weekend, but I thought we adapted well. Our penalty kill was phenomenal once again and we were able to withstand the pushes Dundee threw at us, you could tell they were hungry despite the score telling a different story” said Clan's Liam Soulière.

Glasgow opened the scoring at 03:01 through Tristin Langan, who fired home a rebound after Emil Kruse made a pad save on Brett Neumann.

The Clan doubled their lead at 06:37 when, despite Kruse denying Hugo Roy on the initial attempt, the Stars failed to clear the rebound, allowing Roy to beat the netminder from close range.

Dundee pulled a goal back at 16:57 as Griffin Luce’s shot from the blue line appeared to deflect off a Clan defenceman’s stick and past Soulière.

However, Glasgow restored their two-goal advantage late in the first period, with Rylan Schwartz firing past Kruse on the rush at 19:46.

Otto Nieminen made it a one-goal game early in the second period, backhanding the puck past Soulière at 24:00.

Glasgow responded at 32:55 as Brett Neumann scored with a one-timer on the rush to make it 4-2.

The Clan added a fifth goal at 37:16 through Brady Risk, who finished with a one-timer from the high slot just as a delay-of-game penalty against the Stars expired.

Despite chances at both ends of the ice, neither side was able to add to the scoring in a back-and-forth third period as Glasgow skated away with a 5-2 road victory.

Soulière added: "I think over the past few weekends our game has taken steps towards the right path. We’ve established that we’re a fast and hard team. I thought we played one of our better games last night, every night I can see the compete and the hunger in the team, and that’s the most important part of hockey.”