By Kris Smith
The Stars currently have 42 points from 46 games, which is seven points more than the Storm have accumulated in 44 matches but tonight’s final regular season clash between the two can prove decisive in both team’s race to secure a playoff berth.
Just four days ago, Dundee were 5-2 winners in Manchester as they took the first set of two points from this week’s pair of clashes with the Altrincham outfit and Brendan Harms powerplay strike was the only goal of the first period, giving the Taysiders an early advantage.
Philippe Sanche would then double the lead in the second session before Ryan Hughes got Manchester on the board, with a powerplay goal of their own.
However, after fighting with Storm forward Tyler Hinam, Kameron Kielly then beat David Tendeck to restore the Stars two-goal cushion and the clock would then wind down until the final minutes, before Harms fired into an empty net.
At 4-1 the game looked finished, however Dallas Ehrhardt pulled one back for the home team before Spencer Naas then beat the buzzer to add a fifth for Dundee.
Marc LeFebvre’s men then went on to claim a second straight road victory as beat Belfast Giants in Northern Ireland, on Saturday night and started off by taking a 3-0 lead inside 13 minutes.
Spencer Naas converted on the game’s first powerplay to open the scoring before he then added a second just two minutes later, this time converting on a break down the ice following a blocked shot by Kyle Pouncy in the Dundee end.
Pouncy then found the net for himself as he was left unmarked on the right side and Harms would pick him out with a pass across the Giants end, for the defender to shoot past Jackson Whistle.
Although, Gabe Bast would convert on the Giants first powerplay to cut the lead to 3-1 before the end of the opening period and he would score again in the second period by getting on the end of a rebound from Scott Conway’s slapshot, that Jarrett Fiske had saved with his leg pad but the puck sprung straight into the path of Bast.
Fiske would go on to make 65 saves on the night as he faced 55 shots in the final 40 minutes, with Adam Keefe’s side ramping up the pressure continually but Dundee stayed strong to defeat the Elite League leaders.
Meanwhile, Manchester returned to winning ways with a 4-3 home win against Glasgow Clan but they came close to facing overtime as the Braehead club scored twice in the final two minutes to keep the pressure on.
Hinam had put the Storm ahead in the first period before Alexis D’Aoust made it 2-0 in the second session but the Clan would hit back before Gianluca Estevez and D’Aoust both netted in the third period to increase their advantage to 4-1.
Despite losing two late goals, Mike Morin’s side were able to see out the victory and keep up with the Stars, making it a guaranteed four-point weekend for one of these teams tonight.
Looking ahead to tonight’s run-in with the Storm, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “It is back on home ice and on a bigger ice surface, so you have a bit more time and space to do something creative but it is still the same gameplan.
“We need to limit their chances, keep them to the outside and our goalie should always stop the first shot from the outside and then it is up to the skaters to clear out the rebounds.
“We know the circumstances of that game and we want to win on home ice after what happened last week in that game against Sheffield last Sunday.”
“We were disappointed with that result but more than happy with the way the guys responded on Wednesday and we now have that momentum to bring into both of this weekend’s matches.”
Face-off for tonight’s home game against Manchester is at 5pm.
All images: Derek Black.
