By Kris Smith
The Stars take on Glasgow Clan in their 12th and final game of the Challenge Cup Group Stage this evening and it will bring Dundee’s quest for the cup to an end as they were eliminated on Sunday, leaving the Clan to finish as runners-up to Belfast Giants in Group B.
Corey Neilson’s men still have something to play for as they aim to secure home ice advantage but Marc LeFebvre’s side will still want to beat their Scottish rivals to reclaim bragging rights and maintain the mentality against a side they still have to face another six times this season in league play.
Dundee come into the game off the back of Wednesday night’s 6-4 home loss to Cardiff Devils but despite playing without four import players, the Taysiders battled hard and pushed the Welsh side until the very last minute.
The Devils had taken the lead in the first period before Jake Elmer swiftly brought the Stars level and he would continue to answer back every time Cardiff scored, with the Canadian completing his hat-trick in just 32 minutes to make it a 3-3 game.
Pete Russell’s side were just in front at the end of the second period thanks to a late goal and they would score quickly in the third period to extend their lead to 5-3.
The Stars answered back late in the game with Philippe Sanche scoring inside the final two minutes, whilst Dundee had an extra attacker on but they could not find an equaliser before Cardiff scored into an empty net to seal the victory.
Meanwhile, the Clan have won only six of their 18 matches played so far this season and have failed to win any of their last three games but they have beaten Dundee twice already this season, winning once at home and once on Tayside.
The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 5-2 win for Glasgow at Braehead Arena, with Kameron Kielly and Elmer both on the scoresheet for the Stars, whilst Mitchell Heard, Felix Pare, Rylan Schwartz, Keaton Jameson and Tyson McLellan all found the back of the net for the Clan.
Speaking after Wednesday’s loss against Cardiff, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “I liked our effort, we did not give up and there were a lot of shades of last season’s team, where we just kept playing and playing and we came back in a lot of games.
“I just did not think we had a lot of our legs, especially in the third we looked tired and in the first period we were on our heels a bit but the second period, despite all of the goals, it was probably our best period.
“We moved our feet, we were making simple plays and keeping it easy but unfortunately, we just did not get the bounce we needed right at the end.
“Cardiff are a great team and they will make you pay on your mistakes, they made us pay on several but in saying that, there were some positives we can take from that into the weekend.”
Then looking ahead to tonight’s game, he continued: “This is a game where we can work on a lot of things but it is also a rivalry game we can win and I know it is a nothing game for us but we want to win it, mainly for morale purposes and it sets us up for a big game on Sunday.
“Sunday will be a huge game against Fife but we cannot overlook Glasgow and it may mean nothing but it is one of those games where we want to create some momentum heading into Sunday against Fife.
“If we beat Fife on Sunday and we beat Coventry last Saturday as well and with the loss to Cardiff, that is two wins out of three in the league in one week and that is a good week for us.”
Face-off for tonight’s game in Glasgow is at 7:30pm.
All images: Al Goold.
