By Kris Smith
Stars failed to take advantage of their first opportunity to climb above Braehead in the league standings as they fell behind after taking the lead in the first period.
Dundee were without Emerson Hrynyk, Johan Andersson and Riley Stadel as the trio are still recovering from injuries.
Stars created an early opportunity after winning the opening draw but Clan goalie, Ryan Nie held the shot. Dundee were generating more offensive attacks but could not finish any of their chances, shortly after they were on the defensive but Braehead could not make anything dangerous happen.
The Glasgow team were being pinned back in their own zone and started putting bodies on the line to block the constant barrage of shots from Dundee, but the Tayside team were creating more and more dangerous chances as the home side scrambled to clear the puck.
Gabriel Lévesque seen his wrist shot denied before Clan caught Stars on a line change and a long pass up the ice by Nie started the counter-attack which ended after Fullerton made the save. Jimmy Jensen found himself on a breakaway, although his shot was saved by the shoulder of Nie before the Clan goalie covered the rebound to kill the second chance. There were also some words exchanged after Michal Gutwald checked Cody Carlson into the boards.
Malcolm Gould tipped a shot down into the pads of the Braehead goalie before Jensen tried to tuck in the rebound but Nie dived across the goal and got his stick up to block the shot. The home side were the first team to take a penalty as Gutwald sat for two minutes after boarding Omar Pacha.
Clan created 2-on-1 break but the pass from Cameron Burt was too high for his teammate to control. The penalty was killed off before Dundee picked up their first minor of the game as Marc-Olivier Mimar was called for a tripping penalty.
Ryan Potulny was almost gifted an opportunity as the puck rebounded off the glass and popped back out in front of the Dundee goal, however Fullerton was quick to cover it up for a whistle.
The Clan fans leapt from their seats as they thought they had scored but the shot had missed the target and the puck sailed around the boards and back into the Braehead end. Dundee killed off the remainder of the penalty just as the home side were starting to build some pressure in the Stars end.
Stars went back on the powerplay as Jacob Doty sat on a charging call and it was not long before Dundee had the opening goal. A big slapshot from the blueline by Carlson was saved by Nie but Lévesque was there to fire in the rebound at 14:51.
Dundee’s Jordan Cownie created a good chance after quickly cutting past the Braehead defencemen before his shot was just barely saved by Nie. Stars expected to have the lead
going into the first break, until Braehead were given a man advantage after Joey De Concilys was charged with a holding infraction with less than three minutes to play in the period.
Fifty-nine seconds into the powerplay, Landon Oslanski fired a quick slapshot from the point that beat Fullerton at 18:41.
Clan began the middle period with some heavy forechecking before creating a good chance that was cut out by the Stars defence. The action went from end-to-end with both teams playing a counter attacking style.
Braehead almost had the lead after Tyler Scofield dragged the puck around Fullerton but his shot hit the post before the net was knocked off. Scofield then missed a huge chance after he failed to connect with a pass at backdoor.
Stars were playing well defensively as Carlson used a diving block to prevent a 2-on-1 chance for John Tripp’s men before Kris Inglis tied up Doty to stop the Clan player from whacking away at a loose puck under Fullerton’s pads.
However, the momentum quickly swung into favour of the home team, as Potulny fired a shot that was saved by Fullerton, but the rebound went high in the air and Brendan Brooks was in the right place to bat it in at 31:55.
Lévesque picked up a 2+2 penalty for slashing and cross-checking and Dundee did well to kill off the first two minutes before a low shot by Doty, form the blue went straight past Fullerton, as Clan took a 3-1 lead on the powerplay at 36:31.
Stars had fifty-three seconds of a Brian Hart tripping penalty to kill as play resumed for the third period. The final twenty minutes did not have much action as the atmosphere flattened but Stars created a few good opportunities.
Lukas Lundvald had a breakaway but Nie stuck with him and made the save before moments later, Lundvald was sent to the box for tripping and once again Stars killed off the man advantage. Dundee had a number of chances late in the period, the closest they came was when Hart had a chance to shoot home a loose rebound but was pick-pocketed by Doty.
Braehead held onto their two-goal advantage until time expired and moved three points clear of Dundee in the league standings. Travis Fullerton and Cameron Burt were chosen as the ‘Man of the Match’ award winners.
Clan travel to Dundee to face Stars once more as Dundee hope to continue their good form at home on Sunday.
Photo: Al Goold
