Capitals’ Craze has the measure of Clan

Nov 23 2011 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 4 BRAEHEAD CLAN 2

THE Clan’s weekend went from bad to worse as they suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of rivals Edinburgh.

It was a different matter for the Capitals as they secured their second win on successive nights to register a real confidence boost.

Capitals’ netminder Nathan Craze was the star of the show for the hosts and thwarted the Braehead boys throughout a tough encounter.

It was an injury and suspension-hit Clan that made the trip along the M8 and found themselves behind early on as sharpshooter Rene Jarolin scored after only 3.35.

This proved to be the only goal of the opening session in what was an end-to-end encounter at that stage.

The second period saw Clan start to find out just what good form Craze was in as the home goaltender continually put up the shutters while, at the other end, the home forwards were sharper in front of goal and soon built up a 3-0 lead, with strikes by Jarolin again at 30.05 and then Tomas Valecko during a five-on-three powerplay opportunity at 37.56.

Despite a real lack of numbers, the Clan didn’t allow their heads to go down and were given hope at 45.40 when Jade Galbraith scored.

The siege on the Capitals goal was now in full swing but Craze and his rock-solid defence held out until Matt Haywood brought the visitors to within a goal at 54.03.

Desperate Clan continued to press for an equaliser and Jaako Suomalainen was pulled for the extra skater late on but danger man Jarolin was just the type to take advantage and hit the empty net with 20 seconds remaining to complete a fantastic hat-trick.

That last-gasp goal ensured a four-point weekend for Richard Hartmann’s men.