Eric Galbraith’s powerplay marker with just 14 seconds left means it is all to play for after Rapid Solicitors Hull Stingrays went down 3-2 at Braehead Clan in the first leg of their Elite League play-off quarter-final.
Stingrays welcomed assistant captains Yan Turcotte and Zach Hervato back into the line-up but they were without Cory Tanaka. 
Derek Roehl got the go-ahead goal at 3.33 before Hervato marked his return from an eight-game absence with the game-tying marker at 27.43.
Neil Trimm put Clan back in front on the powerplay at 29.05 and Roehl’s second, on the powerplay at 42.54, extended the home side’s advantage.
Stingrays goaltender David Brown saved a Matt Keith penalty shot at 54.31 before Galbraith reduced the deficit on a five-on-three powerplay with the clock ticking to set up a thrilling second leg at Hull Arena tomorrow night (6pm face-off).
Player-coach Omar Pacha said: “It was the biggest goal of the season. We wanted to go into tomorrow knowing that if we won we would be through or at least take the series to overtime so from that point it was mission accomplished.
“We played a good road game but I was disappointed there were so many penalties called on both teams, we wanted to play five on five but it was a special team game. We called a time-out and made an adjustment and Gally came up with a big goal and we go into tomorrow now with a chance to win the series.
“I thought Turcotte and Hervato did one hell of a job. Herv scored a big goal and we asked him to play 30 minutes and Turks was our best PK guy, he was blocking shots and clearing the puck. They both played a solid game and Browny came up with a big save on the penalty shot too.
“I hope now we can get a full house tomorrow night to give us that extra support. The guys will be trying their hardest and we hope the support can be our extra man to help us.
“We will need to stay out of the box, be disciplined and stick to the system. It’s crunch time and it is going to be exciting.”
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