Manchester Storm stayed fifth and extended the gap on Guildford to three points with a 4-1 win over the Flames on Saturday night at the Storm Shelter.

“I think it was a big test for us. These guys are on our tail and we play them another two times before the end of the season,” began Storm’s Zach Sullivan. “It’s kind of a marker of how we expect to play against them. It was almost like a playoff game before the playoffs and we matched physicality.”

‘Pink the Rink’ night in Altrincham brought another large crowd in support of breast cancer awareness charities. The large crowd were treated to an entertaining opening period that initially saw the visiting Flames ahead after a rebound was put home by Tyler Preziuso.

“I think we actually played a pretty good road game. Different style of play on this rink. We kind of focused before the game on being direct, which I thought we were,” summarised Flames’ Josh Waller. “I think their goalie played well. We created a lot of shots, but yeah, unfortunately, we came away with the loss.”

Manchester’s Brady Gilmour brought his team level after a string of passes in the offensive zone during a powerplay ended up on his stick, and he rifled home a one-timer from the bottom of the faceoff circles.

Brandon Cutler doubled the lead, and Storm’s powerplay goal tally for the evening, as he surprised Justin Fazio with a pinpoint shot over his shoulder.

“I didn’t think we were at our best in the first period, but we got two massive goals there,” added Sullivan. “From there I thought we took over. They had chances but our defensive zone was compact and solid.”

The second period began well for the Storm, who pushed their lead to two after Ergang drove to the net with force, resulting in a loose puck on the backdoor that was put home by Ulett just two and a half minutes in.

Despite powerplay opportunities for both sides, neither could generate any further offence and the game remained at 3-1 for the rest of the second period.

“I think it’s just about being consistent,” continued Waller. “We’ve kind of been speaking about that and building towards the playoffs, trying to get ourselves in a good position to give ourselves a decent opponent and then push for it in the Final Four weekend.”

It looked like the game would stay at 3-1 until Fazio was pulled for the extra skater with 2:40 to play. Tyler Hinam added the insurance for Storm with an empty-netter inside the final 53 seconds.

“We just want to be playing our way. I think over the last couple of weeks we’ve kind of got away from that a little bit,” said Sullivan. “Obviously, you clinch playoffs and it’s kind of natural that you’re just going to go, ‘okay, job done’ – so it’s about getting that intensity back up and playing with the speed and the physicality that our coaches want us to so that when we get to the playoffs we’re not having to make a step up. We’re already playing at a playoff standard when we get there.”

Photo: Mark Ferris

Glasgow Clan put Belfast Giants’ hopes of winning the title this weekend on ice with a 3-1 win at the SSE Arena on Saturday night.

This result means that the Giants cannot secure the league crown this weekend, regardless of other results or what happens on Sunday.

“It was good. We know going down the stretch now we’re going to have to bring it every night, so let’s hope we can do it again tomorrow,” said Clan’s Brady Risk.

Early pressure from Glasgow was rewarded as they got the opener on the powerplay after Mike Lee was penalised for cross-checking. Brady Risk’s shot from the slot was saved by Jake Kupsky, however he couldn’t do anything to deny Risk putting in the rebound to give the Clan the lead at 08:47.

The Giants equalised shortly after through JJ Piccinich. David Goodwin’s shot from the slot was saved by Sami Aittokallio, with Piccinich scoring the rebound at 14:06 to level the game.

Glasgow went ahead for the second time, with Tristan Langan getting the goal. An excellent solo run through the neutral zone and into the Giants’ defensive zone resulted in Langan’s shot being saved from the slot, however he reacted quickly to score the rebound from a tight angle at 23:18.

The Clan got their third of the night after a mistake from the Giants presented Robert Lachowicz with a breakaway, with only Kupsky to beat. Lachowicz was clinical, finishing well through Kupsky’s five-hole at 30:59, prompting the Giants to call a timeout.

The Giants had two powerplay chances to get themselves back into the game but came up short both times. Indeed, the best opportunity fell to Clan’s Chris McKay, who failed to convert when through one-on-zero with Jake Kupsky. The Giants’ goalie left the net with 2:29 to go, but the home side couldn’t find another goal and were beaten by two.

“I think we’ve had the confidence all year. It’s just been a matter of putting the performances together, but we’ve beaten all the big teams, we just need to stick with it and get up to standards,” added Risk. “I think we know it’s possible that we could end up in Belfast in the playoffs, and yeah it’s nice to win, so let’s hope we can do it again tomorrow.”

Photo: William Cherry

Coventry Blaze responded to Wednesday night’s Challenge Cup Final defeat with a 7-3 home win over Fife Flyers.

“I thought it was a really slow start from us, we were obviously coming off a very big game on Wednesday that had a lot of emotion in it,” began Blaze’s Grayson Constable. “We had to get our legs back into the regular season as it’s coming down to the wire here.”

Fife made a strong start, opening the scoring at 07:18 through Ben Brown, who finished from close range. The visitors doubled their lead midway through the period as quick passing from Hunt and McLean set up Justin Ducharme to score with Robson out of position.

The Blaze pulled one back late in the period on the powerplay, with Adam Robbins converting a rebound from Jordan Power’s shot. Just 49 seconds later, Artem Buzoverya tied the game at 2-2, firing high past Christian Purboo.

“I thought it was a disappointing start for us, but we really turned it around after that time-out,” continued Constable. “It showed that we can play under pressure when down a few goals. Lessons learned there for sure.

“We had a conversation after the first period without the coaches in the locker room, and then Kevin called a timeout at the right time to turn it around for us.”

Ducharme restored Fife’s lead early in the second period, finishing one-on-one with Robson, but Coventry responded quickly. William Boysen levelled the game from close range before Grant Mismash tipped in a Grayson Constable shot to put the Blaze ahead for the first time.

Jordan Power added a fifth goal shorthanded to give Coventry breathing room heading into the third period.

Mismash and Robbins both scored again in the final period to secure a comfortable victory for the Blaze.

Photo: Scott Wiggins