Manchester Storm continued their climb towards the top four with an impressive 5-1 win over Glasgow Clan on Friday night.
Glasgow made the trip to Manchester for the first time this season, with a slightly delayed faceoff giving them an extra 15 minutes to shake off the bus legs. However, they were unable to use that to their advantage in the opening period.
“Obviously, we got off to a hot start and sometimes that can be dangerous and put you into a little bit of a lull, but I thought we did a pretty good job managing their pushes and managing the game,” said Tyler Hinam, who scored a hat trick. “It was nice to see that one out and not get too stressed at any point.”
The first twenty minutes were dominated by the Storm, led by a sensational performance from Hinam. He scored a remarkable hat trick inside the opening twelve minutes, completing it with a stunning finish at 11:50 as he dragged the puck around Clan goaltender Liam Soulière to put the hosts three goals ahead.
“I’ve never scored a hat trick that fast,” joked Hinam. “And I don’t expect to have another one that quick again!”
Clan showed more pushback in the second period, but Storm continued to control the contest and extended their lead at 29 minutes. A shot rang off the post and fell straight to JD Dudek, who blasted a one-timer into the open net to make it 4-0. The middle frame also saw extended ice time for Storm prospect Josh Crawley, who contributed to the home side’s sustained offensive pressure.
Deven Sideroff drove the net hard to get Clan on the scoresheet 4:02 into the third period.
With just over six minutes remaining and Storm killing a penalty, Clan head coach Corey Neilson pulled Soulière for the extra skater in an attempt to spark a comeback. The closest chances at the empty net fell to Loren Ulett and Tyler Welsh before Stephen Johnson finally found the target at 4:40, restoring Storm’s four-goal advantage and sealing the scoring.
Photo: Mark Ferris