By Kris Smith
Dundee welcomed back Joey De Concilys after his short injury break as they travelled to Glasgow looking to climb above the Braehead Clan in the league standings. Brian Hart had a chance early on for the Stars but his effort was not on target. Travis Fullerton then prevented the home side taking the opening goal by denying Ryan Potulny’s slapshot. However it was Dundee who broke the deadlock as Malcolm Gould’s shot found the net at 6:23. The clan got a powerplay less than a minute later as Emerson Hrynyk was penalised for tripping. The Clan took full advantage and Tyler Shattock put the puck in the goal after a well worked passing move, tying the score at 1-1 after 8:38. After two giveaways and a scramble were cleared from in front of the Dundee goal, Marc-Olivier Mimar stole the puck from a Braehead defenceman and broke down the ice and sent the puck across goal for Riley Stadel to knock home at 14:26. There was end-to-end chances but the first period ended with the away team in the lead.
Hart started the second period with another attempt but Ryan Nie held the shot. Omar Pacha took a hit to the upper-body and left the ice for treatment but returned later on in the period. Dundee were firing shot after shot but Braehead had plenty bodies blocking them. A quick play into the Stars defensive zone allowed Mike Embach to get a shot off and it beat Fullerton to tie the game at 30:01. The Clan quickly grabbed another to put them 3-2 ahead, the puck fell to Tyler Scofield who lifted the shot over the diving Dundee goalie at 31:43. The Stars were running out of puck luck as they desperately tried to tie the game up before the final break. Dundee got an early powerplay as Cameron Burt was sent to the box on a holding call but the Clan killed off the powerplay. The third period was flowing well and the clock was ticking down fast for Dundee. They were on the backfoot when Pacha was called on a hooking infraction but they held their own in the final few minutes and picked up a powerplay of their own as Jacob Doty was penalised for slashing with just 2:48 remaining to play. Even with the 6-on-4 advantage after Travis Fullerton was pulled, the Stars still could not crack the Clan. The final buzzer sounded, thus securing Clan’s place above Dundee. Tyler Scofield and Riley Stadel were selected as the ‘Man of the Match’ winners.
Following Dundee’s third conference defeat, Dundee Stars head coach Omar Pacha said: “It was a close game that could have went either way and maybe on a different night we get the two points but I thought we played well and created chances but not enough to get it in the back of the net.
“We started strong and got some good opportunities around the net but the puck couldn’t find our sticks on the rebounds. The results against Belfast and Cardiff were immense but we wanted to end it in a good way so it was disappointing to lose.”
Photo Credit: Al Goold