By Kris Smith
The Stars return home after a fruitful visit across the River Tay last night as they ran out 5-2 winners in Kirkcaldy against Fife Flyers, extending their winning streak in the Tayside Derby to six matches.
Philippe Sanche had opened the scoring for Dundee on four minutes before Kyle Pouncy’s first goal of the season doubled the lead inside 10 minutes and Brendan Harms’ late strike would round off a 3-0 period for the visitors.
The Flyers answered back early in the second through Phelix Martineau but Harms would be on hand to answer back straight away and make it a three-goal advantage goal once again,
Spencer Naas picked up three primary assists and set up a trio of different teammates to score, with the third and final one being Zach Tsekos in the 30th minute.
Johnny Curran’s men would then be shutdown until the 56th minute when Kieran Craig finally broke through the defences and turned only the second of 45 shots past Richard Sabol in the Dundee goal.
The Stars skated away with two vital points and with Glasgow Clan winning 4-3 in overtime against Guildford Flames, they remain two points ahead of Dundee but with two games in hand.
Marc LeFebvre’s side now have a chance to draw level with their Scottish rivals tonight and put the pressure on Glasgow to win what will be their three games in hand.
Tonight will be the second time the Panthers have come to the City of Discovery this season and their last visit saw them beaten 2-1 by Dundee, just seven days after the Stars had won 5-2 in Nottingham.
However, in their most recent meeting down south, Danny Stewart’s side would claim a 3-2 win in another closely fought contest between the two teams, but the English side have hit their form over the turn of the year, with the Panthers winning eight of their last 10 league games.
The Panthers will be playing their third game in as many days tonight and so far, they have picked up zero points this weekend after failing to beat Belfast Giants in a double header of games in Northern Ireland.
The Giants took the first game 2-0 on Friday night and Adam Keefe’s men then came back from 2-1 down to claim a 4-2 victory on Saturday evening, after Kristoff Kontos’ and Mitchell Fossier’s powerplay goals had put Nottingham in front in the first period.
Discussing tonight’s visit from the Panthers, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We have already had some success against Nottingham earlier this season and last time we played them it was a very tight game but we know what it takes.
“They have a lot of firepower up front and their line-up is pretty deep, they have had a good run of form lately in the past six weeks, so we have to find a way to match what they bring to the table and then some.
“No games are easy in this league and they are title contenders right now, so they will be ready to go, no matter if they are playing three-in-three or if it is their first game of the weekend.
“They are a very good opposition but on home ice we want to get a win for our fans and get off to a good start for the second half of the season.”
Face-off for tonight’s home game against Nottingham is at 5pm.
All images: Derek Black.
