Clan closes the gap between teams above | Pro Hockey News

Dundee Stars headed to the Braehead Arena on Saturday for a crucial late-season match against Glasgow Clan. The stars arrived knowing victory was essential to keep their play-off hopes alive after a win over Coventry on Friday night. However, a dominant opening period saw the Clan emerge as comfortable winners.

Clan made a blistering start when Brady Risk opened the scoring early. Otto Nieminen responded shortly afterwards to level for Stars, but Robert Lachowicz quickly restored the lead for Clan.

A tripping penalty against Jonathan McBean allowed Mick Messner to strike on the power play, and Brett Neumann added another late in the period as Clan had a 4-1 lead going into the first intermission.

“It was a good game for us,” said Clan forward Brett Neumann, who scored twice. “Good to get those two points, but it was an important victory because we have to put something together here. The boys feel pretty good after such a match.”

Stars turned to Jarrett Fiske in goal early in the second period, but Clan extended their lead when a hooking penalty on Matthew Boudens resulted in a power play goal from Neumann.

Hugo Roy added another soon after, and although Keanu Yamamoto pulled one back unassisted for Stars, Clan remained firmly in control at 6-2 heading into the third period.

“I wouldn’t say that outcome was expected, but we come into every game focused on doing the right things to win,” Neumann added. “Overall, we did a lot of good things tonight.”

Risk scored the only goal of the final frame, finishing an excellent pass from Cade Neilson to complete the scoring.

“There are important matches coming up,” Neumann concluded. “We are trying to overtake a lot of the teams around us, and these are games we have to win.”

Photo: Ryan Fleming

Related