By Kris Smith
The Stars picked up two points in Coventry last night as they won 2-1 to stay in seventh place and above Glasgow by one point, as they also won, beating Nottingham Panthers 9-3 at home.
Dundee went ahead in the first 67 seconds as Spencer Naas netted his 25th goal of the league campaign by burying Ryan Valentini’s drop pass and they held that lead until the third period.
The Blaze would fail to capitalise on any of their four powerplays but Danny Kristo did pounce on a misplaced pass by Dundee goalie, Kevin Carr from behind the net and brought the home side level, on 46 minutes.
Although, five minutes later and with each team down to four skaters, the Stars forced a turnover in the Coventry end and Ryan Valentini fired past Taran Kozun for what proved to be the winner.
Coventry did cause some late drama as they thought Kim Tallberg’s shot snuck across the goal line and was signalled a goal by the referees but after a review, they ruled Drydn Dow cleared the puck before it fully crossed the line.
Meanwhile, the Clan fell behind after just 22 seconds to Hugo Roy’s effort as he fired the Panthers ahead but Philippe Sanche tied things up, before Logan Neilson would send Nottingham into the first break 2-1 up.
Glasgow then hit four past Rok Stojanovic in the second session with Alex Roach, Dyson Stevenson and Matt Barry (2) amongst the goals.
Sanche and Stevenson then added their second strikes each in the third period before Nottingham’s Anthony Luciani got it back to 7-3, but Jordan Cownie and Nate Kallen would take the final score up to 9-3.
Tonight, the Stars meet the Clan in their sixth clash of the campaign and so far, they have won three of the past five, with two of those wins coming on home ice.
This will be Glasgow’s last visit to Tayside in the regular season and their last match ended in a 4-3 overtime win for the Stars, as both Naas and Valentini hit braces to power Dundee to victory after Barry, Darien Craighead and Cody Sol scored for the Clan.
Valentini leads his team’s production against Glasgow with five goals and five assists in five games, whilst Clan’s Gary Haden has eight points against the Stars this year.
The Stars had goaltender, Kevin Carr back between the pipes last night for the first time in four games, whilst defenseman, Xavier Pouliot made a strong impression on his debut as he assisted the opening goal on his very first shift and also picked up the ‘Man of the Match’ Award.
Dundee will also welcome forward, Brendan Harms back to the line-up tonight after serving his one-game ban.
Speaking after yesterday’s win in Coventry, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We wanted to move up in the standings and end this run of results we have had lately.
“So, that is two massive points, especially on the road and against a good team, Coventry have done well this year and they are in fifth place for a reason, and we want to catch them.”
Discussing his home debut in a Scottish derby against Glasgow, defenseman, Pouliot said: “The boys have explained what the derbies are and I know it is an important game not only for the standings, but for the fans too and that they are fired up for it, so I will be too.”
Face-off for tonight’s home game against Glasgow is at 5pm and you can buy your tickets HERE!
All images: Derek Black.
