By Kris Smith
The Stars need to find a way to win in Glasgow tonight in order to thrust themselves back into the playoff spots and if they add two points to their current tally of 45, then they would be in a four-way tie for sixth place.
Last Friday, Dundee found themselves 4-0 down after the first period, despite pinning the Clan into their own end for long spells and the home team would punish them for not taking their chances as they finished off counter-attacks and turnovers with deadly accuracy.
Michael Pelech, Gary Haden, Jake Bolton and Matt Barry were all on target in the first 20 minutes and the second period was much the same as former Stars, Philippe Sanche and Charlie Combs added their name to the scoresheet.
However, Anthony Rinaldi did finally beat Antti Karjalainen with one of Dundee’s 31 shots on target through 40 minutes, whilst Lucas Brine saw only 21 in that time and the Clan led 7-1 at the final break after Dyson Stevenson also lit the lamp for Glasgow.
The third period then saw the tables turn as Dundee piled on the pressure after Elijah Vilio, Spencer Naas, Chris McKay and Drydn Dow all netted within 10 minutes to make it 7-5 with 90 seconds left to play.
Marc LeFebvre was then able to pull Brine for the extra attacker but the Stars saw their efforts slip just wide of goal before Robert Lachowicz notched Clan’s eighth goal into an empty net.
The following night saw Dundee cross the Irish Sea and take a 2-0 lead in Belfast thanks to goals from Rinaldi and James Phelan before the Giants pulled one back late in the second period and tied the game up inside the final minutes of the third session.
In overtime, Belfast then dealt a sucker punch to steal the extra point away from the Taysiders as one chance went a miss at one end and the Giants would score at the other.
Meanwhile, Glasgow’s last outing saw them head south to Guildford last Saturday where they were scorched 7-1 by the Flames and Fife Flyers victory over Belfast on Sunday put Dundee down to ninth but only two points behind Glasgow, Fife and Coventry Blaze.
Discussing tonight’s game in Glasgow and getting back on track, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “Last week is over and done with, we reviewed it back all week and obviously we have to have a better start against those guys.
“We know the implications of this game but it is 0-0 again, a brand-new game and last time we played them in our rink we beat them 7-3 and then we go to their place and they beat us 7-5.
“So, the last two games have been pretty high scoring but playoff hockey is usually a bit more of a low scoring affair and we plan to do that tomorrow.”
Sharing what he wants to see from his side tonight, LeFebvre added: “A performance.
“All I can ask for is for them to perform and just give ourselves a chance to get into the top eight.
“It is a massive game but it is just about the mindset of taking it one game at a time and that is all it is.
“We have five games left to get our spot in the top eight and it is more than doable if we beat all the clubs in front of us and that starts with Glasgow tonight.
“We just have to take it shift-by-shift, minute-by-minute and that is all we can control.”
Stars forward, James Phelan then gave an insight into the players mindset ahead of the derby, adding: “It is a huge game and we all know what is at stake here.
“The last game, we just put it behind us but we have learned from it and will try to build off that third period and just go in there ready for war.
“We need every point we can get, it is so tight and we can go up to sixth with a win and to get those two points would mean the world, especially against a team we are fighting against because we all want to make playoffs and we know how important it is.”
Talking about the atmosphere in Braehead Arena and the players excitement to play in front of a sellout crowd, he said: “It is a good time in Glasgow, they have a decent rink, decent fans and we get a big number of our fans travelling through.
“So, it is always fun to feel like you have support from your own fans in someone else’s building and we are excited for it.”
Face-off for tonight’s game Glasgow is at 7:30pm.
All images: Al Goold.
