Adam Keefe will be glad that he doesn’t have to take the Belfast Giants back to Glasgow until mid-March.
For the third time this season, the Giants travelled to the Braehead Arena and, for the third time, they came away empty handed.
Glasgow Clan were dominant and clinical in a richly-deserved 5-1 win. The problem for the Giants, though, is that there is no getting away from them as the teams meet again in the second of two post-Christmas clashes on Saturday night.
After scoring in each of the first two periods, it was two more in the third that made sure of the win for the Clan, before a late empty-net goal inflicted the joint heaviest defeat of the season on the Giants and ended a seven-match winning streak that stretched back to the last visit to Glasgow back in late November.
The result shouldn’t really be a surprise, though, as the Scots have now clocked up seven wins in their last eight games, although they still sit seventh in the Elite League table.
Clan could be without Canadian forward Chris McKay for the weekend tussle as he now has a potential suspension hanging over him after being thrown out of the game in the first period for a check to the head on Mack Stewart.
It was that type of game, feisty and niggly throughout with an aggressive edge bubbling just under the surface for almost the entire 60 minutes.
Glasgow managed to take the lead before they started to pile up the penalties — and in fortunate circumstances too. Simon Despres’ shot from distance took a deflection off Giants’ Ben Lake just in front of goal and Clan were ahead with 4.12 on the clock.
The game then became ill-tempered. First Tyson McLellan was called for roughing before Mitchell Heard set on Mark Cooper, rightly earning himself an extended stay in the box for instigating as well as the fighting penalty.
McKay’s night was ended following a video review, the footage leaving them in no doubt he was guilty of checking to the head — the fact that it came against the boards as Stewart chased the puck making it look all the more dangerous — and Ciaran Long sat out for his reaction to the nasty incident.
Frustratingly for the Giants, they couldn’t make the most of powerplay opportunities and when it went four-on-four early in the second period — Giants’ Bobo Carpenter being followed to the box by Steven Seigo — Glasgow doubled their lead just 67 seconds after the intermission.
Despres showed great awareness when he allowed Cole Ully’s pass to go through his legs and Rylan Schwartz knocked the puck past Tom McCollum.
Mike Lee and Gabe Bast had chances to cut the arrears before the best opportunity from Mark Cooper was saved by Lucas Brine, but most crucial for the Giants in the second period was killing a 28-second long five-on-three penalty to keep Glasgow within range.
Hopes of a comeback were, however, dealt a major blow within 70 seconds of the third period.
Schwartz caused the problem when he sent the puck to the front of the crease, where Deven Sideroff met it and squeezed his effort through McCollum’s pads to make it 3-0.
The Giants did respond just over a minute later when Josh Roach caught out the unsighted Brine with a shot from the left and Elijiah Barriga really should have made it a one-goal game only for the Glasgow goaltender to pull off a magnificent save.
Even though Mitchell Heard fired high past McCollum at 50.51 to make it 4-1, the Giants didn’t give up hope.
There was a full two minutes left on the clock when McCollum was pulled, but Sideroff won the puck and sent it sailing into the empty net to complete the 5-1 win.