Dundee came out hard as they looked to overturn the two-goal aggregate deficit from the first leg, and peppered Ben Bowns’ net inside the opening five minutes. Jake Elmer let a shot go just wide while Ryan Valentini shot just over before Spencer Naas followed up on a rebound from a Valentini shot to put the Stars ahead on the night at 3:11, and just one behind on aggregate. The Devils steadied things and were level just short of three minutes later as Jamie Arniel lifted the puck over a sprawling Lucas Brine with 6:09 played. The following 13 minutes and change were more even than the opening phases that the Stars had controlled, but Bowns was mainly the reason why the teamed skated off all square at the break.

The Stars were restricted to fewer chances in period two, mostly coming on rushes up the ice. Justin Crandall almost put the Devils ahead in the final three minutes of the period but shot just wide. Crandall did put the Devils into the lead on the night when he finished a nice passing play at 39:21, while Bowns made a point-blank save as the clock ticked down to keep his side three ahead on aggregate. Earlier in the period, Sam Duggan threw himself in front of a Drydn Dow shot to prevent the Stars going ahead.

Arniel’s shorthanded tally 87 seconds into period three was the blow that probably put the tie beyond the Stars at an unfortunate time. The hosts battled to try and get themselves back into things, and did have a goal to cheer thanks to captain Dow with 1:46 to play.

However, it was the Devils’ weekend as they took the 3-2 win to advance 7-4 on aggregate.

Photo: Derek Black

Both Cardiff Devils and Dundee Stars will go into the second leg of their Quarter-Final series believing they can make the Playoff Finals Weekend after the Devils took a 4-2 win in the first leg at a sold-out building in South Wales.

Dundee came closest to opening the scoring early with a shot coming back off the frame of Ben Bowns’ net as the visitors started well. A good save by Bowns at one end led to the Devils rushing down the ice and going ahead through Sam Duggan with 2:23 left in the opening period.

Ryan Valentini crashed a slap-shot past Bowns 54 seconds into period two to level the game, but the Devils hit back 33 seconds later on the rush with the returning Tyler Busch putting home a loose puck of his own pass. 6:16 into the period, Jake Elmer was left all alone in front of Ben Bowns to calmly deke and put the puck home and tie the game once again. Cardiff found themselves ahead at the break thanks to Bode Wilde’s shot through traffic with 6:47 left in the period.

Busch added his second of the night to put the Devils 4-2 ahead 100 seconds into the final period. Having seen over 200 penalty minutes in the three games between the teams at the Vindico Arena already this season, it was no surprise that the third was a feisty one. Lucas Brine, man of the match for the Stars, ended on 29 saves for the game, one more than Bowns, as both goalies made good saves to prevent further scoring.

The Stars will have to overturn a two-goal aggregate score if they’e to advance, while the Devils have that cushion heading into Sunday’s game back in Dundee.

Photo: James Assinder

Glasgow Clan failed to get the win they needed to keep themselves in with a chance of a playoff place, losing out 7-5 to Cardiff Devils at a sold-out Braehead Arena.

In truth, Clan’s fate was sealed after a disaster of a first period saw them three down to the second-placed Devils. Not two minutes were on the clock when Joey Martin tipped Jamie Arniel’s shot past Antti Karjalainen, while a bad rebound from the Finn saw Ryan Barrow’s shot land on the stick of Arniel to convert at the top of the crease with 13:31 gone. Under three minutes later, Cole Sanford neatly finished Trevor Cox’s feed in space to the Devils three ahead.

A long stretch pass from River Rymsha bounced off the back boards into the path of the on-rushing Chad Pietroniero to make it 4-0 14:32 into the middle period, but Darien Craighead got the board 14 seconds later. Sanford and Charlie Combs traded goals for a score of 5-2 in favour of the visitors through 40 minutes.

Matt Barry got Clan back to within two early in period three, only for Evan Mosey to put the Devils back three ahead just over a minute later. Jordan Cownie then pulled the score back to 6-4 with 13:14 to play, however a Mosey penalty shot with 9:16 left put the hosts three down and running out of time. Combs scored his second of the night at 51:47, and Clan battled until the end with Karjalainen pulled in the closing stages but to no avail.

The defeat, combined with results elsewhere, saw Clan slip to last in the stands on the final day of the season.

Photo: Al Goold