By Kris Smith
The Stars did not get off to a winning start this weekend as they were defeated 7-1 in Cardiff by the Devils last night, however their opponents tonight suffered a similar fate, as Clan lost 5-1 to the Giants in Belfast.
Dundee found themselves 3-0 down after the first period, as Cole Sanford and Justin Crandall (2) fired the home side into an early lead.
The Scottish side then produced a responsive middle session and got on the board through Philippe Sanche and then they should have been level going into third period.
A bunch of chances were wasted by Dundee before Gabriel Desjardins put his penalty shot wide in the 38th minute and that gave the Devils a wake-up call and they ploughed on to demolish the Stars in the third period.
Trevor Cox, Brodie Reid, Brandon McNally and Sanford all found the net in the final 20 minutes to move the Welsh club 7-1 ahead and send the Stars home deflated.
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, the Clan saw their losing run extended to four games as they went 4-0 behind to the Giants after 34 minutes, before Braylon Shmyr put them on the board.
Malcom Cameron’s side then gave up one more goal in the third period to round the scoring off at 5-1.
Heading into tonight’s match, only one point separates the seventh place Stars and the Clan in sixth, but also fifth place – which is being held by Coventry Blaze.
These two teams last met in Dundee just two weeks ago, as live on Premier Sports, the Stars opened up a 1-0 lead through former Glasgow forward, Quinn O’Brien, but two quick goals from Mathieu Roy and Shmyr put the visitors ahead.
Charlie Combs then struck late in the first period to tie the game at 2-2 and Kalvis Ozols used his big slapshot to send Dundee back in front.
In the third period, Colton Yellow Horn capitalised on a powerplay to tie the game, but only for Ozols to blast another slapshot past Shane Starrett.
Gabriel Desjardins and Kyle Haas then added some late goals to push Dundee ahead by three goals and after a lack of discipline by the Clan in the final period, they were beaten 6-3.
Discussing the final league trip to Glasgow, Stars Head Coach, Omar Pacha commented: “Tonight will be a tough challenge and they are right there with us in the playoff race.
“So, it will not be any easier tonight, it will be a very intense battle and a playoff atmosphere.”
The Stars blueline-cannon, Ozols then added: “It is a tough place to play and we are next to each other in the standings, so it will be a real nail-biter.
“It is going to be another close game and there is probably some bad blood from the previous game, but we just need to make sure we do everything right, so we come out on top.
“They have a lot of skilled guys on that team and are dangerous on the powerplay, so staying out of the box and keeping our discipline is important.”
Face-off for tonight’s game in Glasgow is at 7pm.
