GLASGOW CLAN 2 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 4

The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars returned to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over their Scottish rivals, Glasgow Clan on Saturday night, as they came back from 2-1 down to take both points on the road.

By Kris Smith

The Stars had forward, Brent Beaudoin back in the line-up as he returned from an upper-body injury but were still missing defenders; Kris Inglis (injury) and Chris McKay (suspension).

Meanwhile, former Star, Charlie Combs made his first appearance against his former club after he completed his recovery from an injury early into the season, but he and the Clan would find themselves on the backfoot in the opening period.

Dundee were able to generate the better scoring chances with Drydn Dow, Brendan Harms, Ryan Valentini and Sean Allen all going close to beating Antti Karjalainen in the Glasgow goal.

The home side had managed to get a few shots of their own on the Stars net but nothing too testing for Kevin Carr and after the Stars failed to make their chances count in the first period, the second stanza saw them finally break through.

After another battling 10 minutes, the first penalty of the night saw Glasgow’s Ryan Harrison boxed for slashing and that allowed Harms to open the scoring on the ensuing powerplay.

Dow’s shot from range would be miss-hit as his stick snapped mid-shot and after bouncing off the pads of Karjalainen, Harms was waiting on the doorstep to tuck in the rebound, on 30 minutes.

However, the Clan would hit back a few moments later as Robert Lachowicz pounced on a loose puck in the Dundee end and skated around James Phelan before punching his shot into the top corner of Carr’s net.

Then 32 seconds later, Jason Morgan’s men took the lead as Cody Sol took a pass from Dyson Stevenson’s from behind the net and fired back a quick snapshot that beat Carr up high.

Marc LeFebvre needed a response from his players and was searching for the same high chance creation they had in the first 20 minutes, so in the third period, the Tayside team came out firing again.

It took only 16 seconds for Ryan Valentini to draw Dundee level as he skated his way into the slot and flicked the puck into the top corner.

Four minutes after the equaliser, Beaudoin added his name to the scoresheet and got the Stars back in front with a finish from close range, after Anthony Rinaldi slipped a pass out in front for the Canadian to quickly bury.

The Clan tried to find a way back into the game but Dundee’s defence shut them out and even through a late penalty kill, the Stars stood firm.

With the clock ticking down, Glasgow emptied their net for an extra attacker but still could not trouble their Scottish rivals as Carter Johnson had a few long-range attempts on the empty net, but it would be Spencer Nass who slid home the fourth and point-clinching goal, just three seconds from time.

The Stars go into the Christmas break on a high and have two days to recover and relax over the holidays before facing their cross-river rivals, Fife Flyers in back-to-back games.

The first Tayside Derby takes place in Kirkcaldy on Boxing Day before Dundee then play host on December 27.

Man of the Match

Dundee: #9 Ryan Valentini

Glasgow: #1 Antti Karjalainen

Goals

1st:

2nd:

0-1 Brendan Harms (Drydn Dow, Carter Johnson) 30:10 PPG

1-1 Robert Lachowicz (Jordan Cownie) 34:55

2-1 Cody Sol (Dyson Stevenson, Jordan Cownie) 35:27

3rd:

2-2 Ryan Valentini (Drydn Dow, Brendan Harms) 40:16

2-3 Brent Beaudoin (Anthony Rinaldi, Carter Johnson) 44:16

2-4 Spencer Naas (Ryan Valentini, Josh Brittain) 59:57 ENG

All images: Al Goold.