Robert Lachowicz struck in overtime to secure a priceless win for Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan as they edged Manchester Storm 4-3 on the road.
The Clan got off to a promising start with netminder Antti Karjalainen pulling off some imposing saves on odd man rushes from the hosts.
Charlie Combs eventually put Glasgow in front after 13 minutes of flooding the Storm net with shots when he rifled the puck into the top shelf from the back door.
Lachowicz then doubled the visitor’s lead on the powerplay as he rebounded Gary Haden’s shot to provide some comfort to the side.
Tyler Hinam etched the Storm back into the tie late on in the period though when he drove into the crease and sent the puck into the top corner to halve the Clan’s lead.
Joe Morrow levelled the scoring in the second period when he rifled the puck into the net after being set up by teenage team-mate Connor Lee.
Haden restored the Clan’s lead with a third goal for the visitors as he barged his way into the slot and sliced the puck low into the Storm net.
Combs continued to nip at the heels of the Storm players as he riled Michael Korol into taking a four-minute penalty with some off-the-puck antics.
In the third period, Samuel Tremblay put the Storm back on level terms with a low wrist shot from the hash marks on the powerplay.
Both sides went through a dry spell on offence throughout the rest of the period and the game was forced to overtime.
Combs had a huge breakaway chance in overtime when he stole the puck at the Storm blue line, but Storm goalie Evan Wenninger denied his shot attempt.
Karjalainen was caught in a bizarre scene as he came out to the blue line to clear a loose puck and it fell to Austin Farley, who almost had an empty net, but the Finn managed to poke check the puck clear.
In the final minute of overtime, Lachowicz grabbed his second of the game to steal the two points as he pulled off a slick wraparound move and tucked it into the net to end the game.
Report by Sam Scouller; photos by Mark Ferriss
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