By Kris Smith
Dundee finally got the better of their Gardiner Conference rivals after a nail-biting encounter at the DIA which went all the way before Dundee found a winner.
Dundee were the first to set-up an attack as Emerson Hrynyk’s shot was tipped into the pads of Clan goalie, Ryan Nie. Joey De Concilys then had his blocked as Stars continued to build pressure against Braehead.
A few minutes later the home side were defending their own net as they were forced to put their bodies on the line to block shots. However, a loose puck drifted wide to the right of the Dundee goal and most players lost track of it but Craig Peacock seen it all the way and was there to fire it home and give Clan the lead at 7:11.
Dundee were quickly back on the attack, Brian Hart seen his shot hit the stick of Nie, who juggled it before he grabbed the puck out of mid-air to freeze the play. The play went from end-to-end with little stoppage and this allowed the Dundee fans to see the feisty side from their latest signing, Lukas Lundvald Nielsen.
Omar Pacha had his men bearing down on Clan to try and force a mistake from their backend but Michal Gutwald done well to fend off Anthony Mastrodicasa. Jimmy Jensen won the puck for Dundee but Nie shut the door on him before Malcolm Gould’s shot forced Nie to beat away the airborne rebound with his stick.
The puck cleared the surrounding glass and that resulted in a two-minute delay of game penalty for the Braehead keeper. Nie was tested on the resulting powerplay, he slid across goal to deny Gabriel Lévesque of Dundee’s first goal of the night. John Tripp’s side killed off the penalty to take their 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Clan hit the post in first minute of the second period and that set the tone for the middle period. Mike Embach skated the puck in close to Fullerton but the Dundee netminder tracked it well and covered it up. Nielsen and Brendan Brooks had a few jabs at each other after the whistle but the officials stepped in before anything could happen.
The home side went back on the powerplay as Hämäläinen sat for minor slashing penalty, but it was the visitors who benefited as Brooks broke away from everyone else, Fullerton came out to close him down but a quick slapshot sent the puck flying into the top corner on the twenty-five-minute mark.
Clan killed off the rest of Dundee’s man advantage and tried to extend their lead through Tyler Scofield, he redirected a shot but it bounced back off the post. Dundee were given a third powerplay when Christoffer Bjorklund was penalised for hooking in the last three minutes of the second period.
Riley Stadel lost control of the puck but was bailed out to prevent another shorthanded breakaway for Clan. Braehead survived another penalty kill and once again held their lead going into the second intermission, despite being outshot by Stars.
The home side started the period off well and some good hustle from Stars had their opposition pinned in their own end. Lévesque stole the puck and moved around to the front of the net before releasing a quick wrist shot that beat Nie at 42:23.
Brooks missed his chance to restore his sides two-goal lead, as he found himself on another breakaway. Lévesque won a face-off in the offensive zone and played it straight across goal to Jensen, but he could not get it past Nie. Jacob Doty went to the box on an interference call which put Dundee back on the powerplay.
Jimmy Jensen received a pass in the slot and fired a shot that fooled Nie and hit the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2 at 52:08. The DIA came to life and so did Dundee. Nielsen’s was hungry for a debut goal but his shot was saved by the leg of Nie and he moved like lightning to glove Jensen’s shot from the rebound.
Cameron Burt’s slapshot was easily gloved by Fullerton to keep the score level. The Dundee goalie then denied Embach’s wraparound attempt before Dundee moved down the ice and started bombarding the Clan net with shots. However, the Glasgow side held on and the game required overtime to find a winner.
Scofield’s skills weren’t enough for the game-winning goal and his effort was saved and Fullerton got the better of Scofield again and the game required penalty shots to decide who got the extra point.
Scofield went first for Braehead but was once again beaten by Fullerton. Stadel took Stars first penalty and he faked a slapshot before sliding the puck under Nie’s five-hole, giving Dundee the advantage.
Brooks repeated his goal from earlier to draw his side level and Marc-Olivier Mimar was denied at the other end. Burt hit the post and Nielsen was robbed by the sliding Nie as it went into sudden death. Riley Stadel put the advantage back in favour of Dundee as he fooled Nie once more before Fullerton made a pad save to deny Embach and claimed the extra point for Dundee.
Ryan Nie and Emerson Hrynyk were awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ awards.
