Ice Hockey: Elite League Title Goes To The Wire

Article: Raymond Monaghan

Photo: Monapics.com

Saturday March 14th

Braehead Clan 5-1 Edinburgh Capitals

The Braehead Clan split a weekend double header against their local rivals from the east Edinburgh Capitals in the battle of the M8.

Clan sold-out Braehead Arena for a 3rd consecutive time on Saturday night, and things got off to a perfect start as forward Stefan Meyer converted on a powerplay with 4:18 gone in the opening session. Gaining confidence from the early goal, the Clan piled on the pressure towards the Capitals net, but goalie Tomas Hiadlovsky stood firm for the rest of the period as the first 20 minutes ended with no further scoring, despite the Clan heavily outshooting the Capitals by 22-4.

The 2nd period was a far tighter affair as the Capitals rallied, they were presented with a number of opportunities on the powerplay. Clan took advantage of a misplaced pass to allow a breakaway for Stefan Meyer who duly bagged his 2nd goal of the night while Defenceman Zack Fitzgerald sat in the sin-bin. Capitals did eventually take advantage of their powerplay chances, Dennis Rix netting on the man advantage and the 2nd period ended 2-1 to the Clan.

Clan re-assumed their dominance from the start of the night in the final session, and pushed hard to try and end the match as a contest. They duly did so with goals from Scott Pitt, Matt Keith & Matt Haywood to run out in the end comfortable 5-1 winners.

Period Scores: 1-0, 1-1, 3-0

Penalty Mins: Bra 2+8+12=22 – Edi 8+4+10=22

Powerplay: Bra 3/10 – Edi 1/5

Shots on: Kyle Jones 4+9+1=14 – Tomas Hiadlovsky 23+4+22=49

Clan Man of the Match: #5 Ben Davies

Capitals Man of the Match: #94 Dennis Rix

Referees: Rab Cowan & Steve Brown

Linesmen: Alan Ward & Luke Palmer

Venue: Braehead Arena

Attendance: 3,576

Sunday March 15th

Edinburgh Capitals 2-1 Braehead Clan

Clan were hoping for a repeat performance from the previous night to keep the destination of the Elite League title within their own hands, however the Capitals who are desperately chasing a Play-Off spot to extend their season came out on top in a cagey affair at Murrayfield Ice Rink.

The first 40 minutes of play were scoreless as both sides knowing so much is on the line for different reasons, neither wanted to be the first to make a mistake and concede the first goal.

Clan were the first to blink as the Capitals took advantage of a misplaced pass from Clan Defenceman Scott Aarssen, allowing Daniel Naslund to tally a vital opening goal for the Edinburgh side. Clan threw caution to the wind as they desperately searched for an equaliser leaving them open to counterattack, and it was Daniel Naslund again the hero as he blasted a huge slapshot beyond the glove of netminder Kyle Jones into the top left-hand corner of the net to make it 2-0.

With just over 3 minutes remaining in the match, Clan finally got on the board from a well-placed effort by Scot Pitt to set-up an immensely tense finale to an already absorbing match. It wasn’t to be for the Clan as the Capitals were to hold out for a vital 2-1 victory, and plots a photo finish going into the last weekend of fixtures.

Period Scores: 0-0, 0-0, 2-1

Penalty Mins: Edi 10+6+8=24 – Bra 10+4+2=16

Powerplay: Edi 0/6 – Bra 0/10

Shots on: Tomas Hiadlovsky 9+9+16=34 – Kyle Jones 5+6+10=21

Capitals Man of the Match: #40 Daniel Naslund

Clan Man of the Match: #14 Derek Roehl

Referee: Rab Cowan

Linesmen: Dave Farren & Paul Staniforth

Venue: Murrayfield Ice Rink

Attendance: 1,524