By Kris Smith
The Stars put a 7-1defeat in Cardiff on Friday night behind them by claiming a 2-1 overtime win against Glasgow Clan in the Braehead Arena, last night.
The game had been locked in a stalemate for 39 minutes before Brock Beukeboom’s long-range effort found the back of the Dundee net.
However, the Stars rallied to tie the game with only five minutes left in regulation, as Sebastian Bengtsson was left unmarked and free to fire home the loose rebound of Philippe’s Sanche shot.
It then took only 50 seconds of extra-time for Dundee to snatch the extra-point away from Glasgow, as Bengtsson put on a dazzling display of agility and skill to evade the three Clan defenders.
The Swede then squared a pass across goal for Charlie Combs to chip up and in, off the blocker of Shane Starrett.
Meanwhile, the Flyers were in Coventry and despite having a 1-0 lead in the first period via Matt Carter’s strike, the Blaze battled back.
Danny Stewart’s men tied the game in the second period, before netting the winner, 16 minutes from time.
Tonight’s game in Kirkcaldy is also the first of four games in the next 12 days between these two sides as they have a long series of run-ins down the final stretch of the season.
Fife and Dundee are also currently separated by 12 points in the league standings, with the Stars holding onto sixth place and the Flyers propping up the 10-team table.
Through six games this campaign, the away side has won this fixture four times, giving a statistical advantage to Dundee for tonight’ tie in Fife.
Discussing the upcoming mini-series with their biggest rivals, Stars Head Coach, Omar Pacha said: “Fife is definitely a team we have to play our best hockey against because they are fighting for their lives right now.
“Any glimpse will give them hope, so it is up to us to work as hard as we can and build on the last game we played there and to make sure we get the two points.”
Stars forward Caly Robertson then added: “It is always tough playing on the road with the long travel and everything else but we just need to play the way we know how to on the road.
“Recently that has given us some success, then some results did not go our way and we just need to come to together again and battle through it.”
Looking tonight’s first derby, he continued: “Four games against our biggest rivals is huge.
“You always want to get one over on them, but the points are more crucial than ever.
“They are fighting for their pride and we saw them beat Glasgow just last week, so we know we cannot take them for granted because they are a good team and it will be a hard four games against them.”
Face-off for tonight’s game in Kirkcaldy is at 6pm.
