By Kris Smith
Stars take on Braehead Clan in a huge Gardiner Conference clash that has two vital points up for grabs that both teams will desperate to claim.
After victories for both sides in last nights fixtures, the gap between them remains at five points with three games still to be played between the two sides after tonight. Stars climbed one place in the Elite League standings after a 3-1 defeat to Manchester Storm caused Milton Keynes Lightning to drop down to eleventh place.
Dundee pulled off a remarkable comeback in Kirkcaldy as they were 4-2 down going into the third period before going ahead 6-5 after scoring four straight goals. Flyers tied it at 6-6 to send it into overtime then a shootout where Malcolm Gould was the only player to find the net and won Stars the extra point.
Jimmy Jensen, Brian Hart, Lukas Lundvald, Jordan Cownie (2) and Marc-Olivier Mimar bagged the goals for Dundee and Travis Fullerton made 33 saves on the night. Cody Carlson, Mimar and Hart all picked up three points with Jensen, Lundvald and Cownie picking up two each.
Meanwhile in Glasgow, the Clan narrowly defeated Edinburgh 4-3. Caps tied the game twice before losing a 3-2 lead in third period. Michal Gutwald, Adam Brace (2) and Ryan Potulny provided the goals for John Tripp’s side. Brace collected three points on the night with Craig Cescon and Brendan Brooks putting up a pair each.
Braehead announced the signing of former Dundee Star, Felix Antoine Poulin this week. The Canadian picked up an assist on Clan’s fourth goal during his debut last night.
Brendan Brooks leads the Clan in points after 36 games with 22 goals and 22 assists. Gabriel Lévesque has extended his point to 6 games and now has 20 points in the last 12 games.
Both teams starting goalies can break the 1,000 save threshold tonight, Ryan Nie currently has 987 saves and Travis Fullerton is currently on 961 saves.
Stars head coach Omar Pacha is hoping his team can bring the same energy from last night into tonight’s game. He said: “We got a huge win last night, it was a great comeback but we made some critical mistakes and they capitalised on that.
“We kept pushing in the third and they got a goal, but we kept pushing and got a goal right back then we kept skating and got two quick ones but most importantly, the boys found a way to win.
“We have been playing good hockey lately and it was a huge character win for us and I hope the guys can bring that into the game tomorrow.
“If we play with the same energy and character I think we can get a positive result.
“We need to get back to winning home games and put on another good display for the fans.”
Tonight’s referees are Alan Craig and Pavel Halas with Linesmen Ally Flockhart and Allan Ward.
Puck drops at 6:30pm!
