Guildford Flames claimed their 17th win in 19 home meetings against Glasgow Clan in league play with a convincing 5–1 victory on Saturday evening. It was their first league win of the season in what was both teams’ second league fixture of the campaign.
“The last five periods we’d played,” began Cole Ully, now with the Flames after spending last season in Glasgow. “Apart from our first in Nottingham we’ve been pretty good, so we wanted to carry that into today. Especially being short of forwards, we really showed up and played for each other.”
Clan struck first on the game’s opening powerplay, Richard Jarůšek tipping Jason Fram’s point shot past Justin Fazio while Ben Solder sat for tripping at 6:50. The Flames were level less than four minutes later, however, as Josh Waller turned on the jets and Jack Jacome roofed his shot past Sami Aittokallio. Hugo Roy shot just over when through on Fazio as the game opened up, but the first period ended all square.
“Every time you go on the road you have to come out strong and play well off the bat,” said Clan’s Jason Fram. “It was important for us to start well and we did, but we let that fall away later in the game. Guildford finished their chances. We had a lot of opportunities to score and didn’t put it in the net tonight.”
The second period belonged to the hosts. In a scramble around Aittokallio’s crease, a combination of Lewis Hook and Tyler Busch forced the puck over the line at 31 minutes. In the final minute of the period, the Flames were awarded a penalty shot when makeshift forward Jamal Watson was brought down on a breakaway. Ully stepped up and calmly converted to make it 3–1 heading into the intermission.
“Every team gets injuries, but we had guys stepping up,” continued Ully, pointing to Watson filling in as a forward. “We all played for each other and kept pushing. I think it’s a really good sign for us.”
While Clan chased the game in the third, Mathieu Gosselin drove hard to the net and squeezed the puck through Aittokallio to make it 4–1 with just under 12 minutes to play.
With 4:24 remaining and Waller in the box for slashing, Corey Neilson pulled his goaltender for the extra skater. The Flames, shorthanded, were able to shoot freely on the empty net and eventually sealed the game thanks to Josh Nixon, who scored into the unguarded cage.
“It’s always weird the first time you play your old team, but it’s a bit of extra motivation,” concluded Ully. “I loved my time in Glasgow, and it was great to see my friends.”
Clan now move on to Sheffield to complete a weekend double-header on the road. “It’s a bit different packing up now and heading to the next city,” added Fram. “You just try to keep everything the same and prepare the best you can.”
Photo: John Uwins
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