By Kris Smith
The Stars are currently in ninth-place and four-points behind the Clan who sit third, with the Elite League table the tightest it has ever been approaching the festive period.
Over the holidays, Dundee have a busy schedule with games against Glasgow, Fife Flyers and Belfast Giants all before the new year and another run of victories could see them climb their way back into the top spots.
The Tayside team’s form had stumbled lately as they have claimed one win in their last seven matches but five of those games came against the league’s top two teams, as they met Sheffield Steelers twice and Cardiff Devils three times, over the last 20 days.
This will be the first match where Dundee and Glasgow meet in league play this season, with each team claiming a home win against each other in the Challenge Cup Group Stage.
A 6-2 loss in Dundee for Clan had come several weeks after they were 4-1 winners at home in Glasgow, with Jason Morgan’s men going 4-0 before losing their clean sheet late on.
Gary Haden’s brace combined with strikes from Michael Pelech and ex-Star, Philippe Sanche had the Clan ahead before Ryan Valentini’s third period goal would deny Jake Kielly of a shutout.
Then in Dundee, Spencer Naas had the Stars in front before Darien Craighead levelled the score but Jake Elmer, James Phelan (2), Chris McKay and Brent Beaudoin all fired home to slingshot Dundee into a 6-1 lead and would Reid Petryk bag a late consolation goal for Glasgow.
Speaking ahead of his side’s only fixture of the week, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We are going in with a championship mentality, it is like a one-game playoff final and that is how we are approaching it.
“We will leave everything on the ice, play with a killer instinct and a winning mentality because we are going there to win a hockey game.
“The Christmas period always has a busy schedule with a lot of games but our guys will be prepared for them and we will show up ready to play.”
Discussing Glasgow, he continued: “They are a good team, they have a lot of good veteran players there and are solid defensively, which they have really improved on lately and got some results recently.
“We need to find a way past them and it is a derby game so everyone will be up for it but we have to have that championship mentality and killer instinct with the mindset of going in there to win.”
Dundee defenseman, Criag Moore, who has also played for Glasgow shared his thoughts on the festive derbies and how important a win could be for the Stars.
He said: “It has been a bit of a tough run of results, we played some good teams but we have to just knuckle down and put it behind us.
“We need to get some points tonight because you can see the league table is so tight and everyone is picking up points, so we have to get back on track and put some points on the board again.
“Going into Glasgow, it is always fun at Christmas time, a lot of buildings are full and the fans come out in numbers.
“So, it is a good atmosphere and playing a Scottish rival is always good fun, you always want to win those ones even more but it will be a good game and hopefully we come out with the two points.”
Face-off for tonight’s game in Glasgow is at 7pm.
All images: Al Goold.
