By Kris Smith
The Stars welcome the Flyers to the northern banks of the River Tay tonight with a win the only thing on their mind as two points would secure their berth in the playoffs and Fife also require one victory and some results to go their way to cement their spot.
A victory tonight would put Dundee on 51 points and give them the edge over the Flyers in a tie-breaking scenario with more regulation wins and a better head-to-head record after winning first five league clashes between the two old foes.
After letting leads slip in both Challenge Cup games against Tom Coolen’s men, the Stars responded by defeating the Flyers 6-4 and 4-2 in Kirkcaldy and then 10-1 and 3-2 after overtime in Dundee.
Marc LeFebvre’s side have outscored their arch enemies 28-18 so far this season and the last clash between the two saw them play out a tightly contested affair that required extra time to find a winner.
Brent Beaudoin put Dundee ahead in the first period before Colin Shirley drew the Flyers level in the second session and a goal each from Josh Brittain and Fife’s Kyle Osterberg would keep the score locked in a stalemate, until Stars captain, Drydn Dow netted the game-winner 46 seconds into overtime.
Leading Dundee’s offence against Fife has been Anthony Rinaldi with the rapid winger scoring eight goals and setting up four more in six appearances this season, whilst Osterberg has bagged 10 points (4G, 6A) in six games against the Stars.
Speaking before tonight’s final regular season home game, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We will continue to treat this just like any other game.
“It is all about playing hard for a full 60 minutes and doing all the little things right to find a way to get two points.
“It is great to be playing in front of a sold-out building tonight but they are still a good team who have a lot of guys who can hurt you and also Shane Owen who is one of the best goalies in the league.
“So, we have to play smart defensively against them and create high-scoring chances to keep them at bay for most of the night and we know it is going to be a tough challenge.
“Both of us are tied on points and we are just climbing for playoff positions and tonight can be the night we clinch it, so we need a complete effort from everybody.”
Stars captain, Drydn Dow then added: “We know it is a big game but we still have to approach it the same as any other because at the end of the day, as long as we are playing our game then we are giving ourselves the best chance to win.
“So, it is important that we continue to play within our systems and within ourselves, and continued to feed off the emotion.
“It is exciting to be playing in front of a sold-out building but as I said we have to keep the focus on ourselves and getting those two important points.
“We have played some big games against them and we know the importance of these Scottish derbies to the fans, so we have been fortunate enough to play really well against them this year and we have to keep doing what we have been doing.
“We feel like we have a chance to win against any team in this league when we are playing our best.”
Face-off for tonight’s sold-out home game is at 7pm and the only way left to watch is by purchasing the webcast HERE!
All images: Derek Black.
