STEFAN DELLA ROVERE grabbed a debut goal for Braehead Clan as the Glasgow club returned to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over Manchester Storm.
Ryan Finnerty’s team blew away their opponents from Altrincham as they halted a two-game losing streak, meaning they now climb level with east coast rivals Fife Flyers in joint fifth in the Elite League.
Mike Hammond and Craig Peacock put the hosts 2-0 up in front of around 2000 at the Braehead Arena, but the night belonged to Della Rovere on his maiden outing in the purple of Braehead. Hammond later added a fourth.
Former Washington Capitals forward Della Rovere put pen to paper on a move to Glasgow on Sunday night and only arrived in Scotland the day before this meeting with Storm. Not that you could tell.
He more than contributed to this convincing win and demonstrated great skill to turn the puck beyond Mike Clemente in the Manchester goal to make it three after just 28 minutes.
As well as his goals, the 26-year-old Canadian was brought in Finnerty to freshen up things on the Matt Keith line, one that would grab two goals on the night between Della Rovere and Peacock.
Far too often this season Braehead’s home form simply hasn’t been up to the mark, a main contributing factor to the frustration of a vocal home support that expected much more of their team this season.
Their call for reinforcements was answered when management brought in Della Rivere at the weekend, and their request for a performance as well as a result came with it here.
Manchester may have pushed Braehead to a close 2-1 win when they met here last month, but in truth they never really landed a glove on a Clan side that were in front after seven minutes and 42 seconds.
Harry Quast, who himself was a mid-season recruit, played a tempting pass into the path of Clemente who failed to deal with the puck, and Hammond was on hand at the crease to hook it in.
Five minutes later it was two. This time the Storm goalkeeper had little chance on a Braehead three on one breakaway, with Peacock flicking a neat shot high beyond the keeper after unselfish play from Alex Leavitt.
Della Rovere got his strike to make it three which dampened the impact when Manchester pulled one back on 33 minutes, Darian Dziurztnski – say that with your mouth full – demonstrated great composure on a counter attack to fire beyond Michal Zajkowski.
Hammond grabbed a second late on to put the result beyond any doubt, with Clan now going into the weekend with a home double header against Edinburgh Capitals and Coventry Blaze.
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