By Kris Smith
The Stars come in to their final game against Glasgow off the back of penalty shootout loss in Cardiff last night but they would have left feeling hard done bye to not have taken a full two points.
After a goalless start in the first period, the Devils eventually opened the scoring on 23 minutes as Cole Sanford deked his way through and finished between the legs of Brython Preece in the Dundee net.
However, just a few minutes later, Philippe Sanche would convert on a quick counter-attack by the Stars to level up the score and they would then take the lead after 30 minutes as Erik Näslund scored his first goal of the season by swiping in the rebound from Chris Lidjsman’s shot.
The home team would then equalise before the end of the second session as Ryan Penny fired high past Preece and Brodie DuPont’s men would get ahead late in the third period, as Sanford deflected a shot into the net.
Although, the Stars hit back just seconds later as Kris Inglis scored his second ever goal for the club with a low finish past a screened Ben Bowns, to make it 3-3 and then with less than four minutes to play, the Tayside team would take a late lead.
A quick shot by Carter Folk after a face-off in the Cardiff end would be deflected into the net via the body of Johan Eriksson as he crossed across the Devils net and the Stars just had to hold on for the final few minutes.
However, Cardiff through everything at the Stars and pulled Bowns for the extra attacker and despite Dundee’s brave defensive performance, Joey Martin would lift home the equaliser with just 30 seconds left on the clock.
Overtime would be required but failed to produce a winner, even with both teams having powerplay opportunities and when it came to the shootout, both goalies stole the spotlight as the first six shots were all saved.
In the fourth round of penalties, Marcus Crawford stepped out for Cardiff and buried his finish high into the top corner of Preece’s net, before Elijiah Barriga would be denied by Bowns and Joshua Brittain then secured the win for the Welsh club with another shot into the roof of the Dundee net.
Meanwhile, the Clan were 4-2 winners against Fife Flyers on home ice last night as Steven McParland drew them level in the first period after Chris Lawrence had put the Kirkcaldy club in front.
Glasgow then came out of the second session with a 2-1 lead as Gary Haden put them ahead on the powerplay but in the third period, there would be three goals scored inside the final two minutes.
Colton Waltz put the home side 3-1 ahead in the 59th minute with an empty net goal but Mikael Johansson would then cut the difference back down to one just 22 seconds later, and Stephen Dixon would then hit the empty net again, with 22 seconds remaining in the match.
The Clan have snapped their six game winless streak to move into eighth place and are now six points clear of Dundee, who need a big result tonight to boost their chances of reaching the playoffs.
Although, the Stars have a few injury concerns after last night’s game in Cardiff but they will still be aiming to claim their fifth win over Dixon’s side this season.
Face-off is at 5pm.
Images: Derek Black & James Assinder.
