Glasgow Clan secured their place in the playoffs with a point in an overtime defeat to Guildford Flames at a sold-out Braehead Arena on Friday night.
The result meant Flames have yet to lose to Clan this season in five meetings.
“We’re feeling good about our game at the moment,” began Flames’ Charlie Curti, who hit the overtime winner. “We’ve had some good wins and you just want to get that consistency going before playoffs. You want to be peaking at the right times, and we were fortunate to get the win tonight.”
The opening period remained scoreless despite a strong start from Clan, who created several chances in the offensive zone. Although they took penalties through Tristin Langan and Jason Fram, Clan were able to kill them off while continuing to apply pressure.
Clan outshot Flames 13-7 in the period, while a Flames goal was waved off after video review for a high stick.
Clan broke the deadlock in the second period when Mick Messner blasted a shot from the point past Justin Fazio.
Flames responded midway through the period when Tyler Preziuso scored unassisted to tie the game, setting up a tense third period with playoff implications still hanging over both sides.
Clan regained the lead 8:16 into the third when Brady Risk’s shot bounced off a defenceman and then Cade Neilson before beating Fazio, who had produced several excellent saves earlier in the period. Just 32 seconds later, the puck broke to Cole Ully in the slot and he finished past Liam Soulière to level the game once again.
Clan’s powerplay struggled on the night, finishing 0-for-5 in regulation.
Both sides appeared content to secure a point and take the game into overtime. Just 57 seconds into the extra period, Flames broke away on a 2-on-1 rush and Charlie Curti finished the rebound from Mathieu Gosselin’s shot to secure the win for the visitors.
“It was a really good game by Glasgow, they made it tough on us and Justin Fazio played his ass off,” added Curti.
Photo: Ryan Fleming
