GLASGOW CLAN 1 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 5

The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars hammered Glasgow Clan 5-1 in Braehead as they got their playoff campaign back on track with a huge win over their Scottish rivals, on Friday night.

By Kris Smith

The Stars arrived in Glasgow boosted by the return of netminder, Kevin Carr in between the pipes and that meant forward Tommy Parrottino would be scratched from the team sheet, joining the injured Craig Garrigan.

Inside the opening three minutes, Dundee’s Xavier Pouliot would drop the gloves with Glasgow’s Dyson Stevenson as the pair of heavyweights went toe-to-toe to get the sold-out crowd sparked up, right from the start.

With the atmosphere in Braehead Arena now electric, the Stars soon became a buzzkill for the home fans as Carter Johnson put the Taysiders in front on 10 minutes when he backhanded the rebound from Jake Elmer’s saved shot through the legs of Clan keeper, Antti Karjalainen.

Marc LeFebvre’s men then doubled their advantage in the 16th minute as Spencer Naas intercepted Alex Roach’s pass through center ice and he then rushed through on goal but whilst his first effort was saved, he tucked home his own rebound.

However, the Clan would hit back instantly as Ryan Harrison brought them back to within one just 26 seconds after the restart, as he won the puck from a face-off and played it to Alex Forbes, who sent it straight back to Harrison as he rounded Carr.

In the second period, Dundee would have to kill off a penalty right from the start as Brendan Harms picked up a two-minute minor for cross-checking but they kept the Clan out with ease and maintained their 2-1 lead.

The Stars then got their own chance on the powerplay as Glasgow’s Jake Bolton was boxed for holding and it took only six seconds for Dundee to cash in on the powerplay as Stars captain, Drydn Dow buried Ryan Valentini’s cross-ice pass into a wide-open net, on 27 minutes.

The home team were then given a huge chance to get themselves back into the game as they were awarded a five-minute, uninterrupted powerplay after Harms was ejected from the match for a suspected spear on former Dundee player, Philippe Sanche.

The Clan would be unable to find another way past Carr and the Dundee defence as they shut the door for the entire five minutes and also nearly added a fourth goal when Brent Beaudoin got himself in behind on a breakaway but would only be denied by the post.

Dundee then piled on the pressure in the third session as they bared down on the Clan net even harder and Beaudoin would add his third point of the night in a ‘Man of the Match’ performance as he finished off Valentini’s pass from behind the net in the 48th minute.

After a feisty end to the match, the Stars then sealed the win as Naas shot off the post and in to make it 5-1 in the last two minutes, breaking the club’s regular season record for goals scored by a single player in an EIHL season.

The Stars claimed a crucial win to push them back into the playoff spots and up to seventh after exacting their revenge over Glasgow for last week’s defeat, but they now have a chance to move up to sixth if they can beat Manchester Storm at home tomorrow.