By Kris Smith
The Stars took on a depleted Fife side a week ago on the North side of the River Tay, but whilst the Flyers only had two full forward lines, they would take a 2-0 lead inside 12 minutes, as Christian Hausinger and Liam Blackburn found the back of the Dundee net.
However, the Stars hit back with an immediate response as Johan Eriksson got them off the mark, just 27 seconds later.
Philippe Sanche would then beat Shane Owen to tie the game in the second period, before a late pair of goals from Hausinger completed his hat-trick and restored the Flyers two-goal lead.
Eventually Dundee’s extra bodies began to count and they would draw level once again against Todd Dutiaume’s tiring side, with Sanche bagging a second, before Colin Joe hit home the equaliser.
The Stars even took the lead briefly through Ian Parker but his goal would be disallowed after a video review.
Since then, both teams went without a win at the weekend as Dundee were beaten 4-3 in Belfast by the Giants on Sunday, whilst Fife lost back-to-back home games, as they lost 6-2 to Guildford Flames and then 5-1 to Sheffield Steelers.
The Flyers have also added 24-year-old, Scottish forward, Scott Henderson to their line-up and he played in both games over the weekend, posting one assist.
In terms on injuries, the Stars will still be without Ben Brown and Hugo Reinhardt, but also Jonathan McBean who is currently on international duty with Team GB Under 20’s.
Meanwhile, the Flyers could still be missing Chris Lawrence and Lucas Sandstrom but, Janne Laakkonen and their top scorer against Dundee, Janne Kivilahti, both made a return to the line-up at the weekend.
Speaking before the second leg, Stars Head Coach, Jeff Mason said: “It is important to start fast as always, they come out hard in that building and they play hard at home.
“So, we need to come out and match their intensity, their play and their speed, and try to play from the front.
“We know how we need to play to be successful against them and it is more about sticking to our gameplan and what has made us successful throughout the course of the season.
“Our start is key, we need to be ready right from the jump because the way they play in that building, they will try to get on top of you quickly, so we have to match them and try to play in the offensive zone as much as possible.”
Discussing how his side must play in Kirkcaldy to win the match, Mason added: “They are a team that capitalises on transitional chances and they do not generate a tonne of offensive opportunities but they are very opportunistic with the ones they do create.
“So, we have to be fully dialled in and detailed defensively for 60 minutes but we also have to make sure we are out-competing them for every battle, 50-50 pucks and all other aspects across the ice.”
Face-off is at 7:30pm in Kirkcaldy, tonight.
