By Kris Smith
The Stars came out needing only one point and a Manchester Storm regulation loss to book their ticket to the Elite League Playoffs but after eight minutes of play, they found themselves 1-0 behind to the Welsh club.
As Cardiff came forward, Jarrod Gourley picked out Cody Donaghey at the back door and he was able to finish past netminder, Jarrett Fiske and that forced the home team to step up their game early.
Marc LeFebvre’s men would cause the Devils some trouble but they were then caught out on their own blueline in the 12th minute as Kris Inglis’ attempted switch pass was intercepted by Zach O’Brien and he would dispatch the puck between the legs of Fiske to double Cardiff’s lead.
Although, the Taysiders did respond to cut the lead back down to one goal just a few minutes later as Zach Tsekos’ powerful effort was stopped by Ben Bowns and became lost in the goalkeeper’s pads but as he dropped down to freeze the play, the puck fell into the back of the Devils net.
Dundee also had a late powerplay chance before the first break but remained a goal behind at the start of the second period and in the middle stanza, the intensity levels between both sides ramped up, which resulted in a few scraps after a season-long rivalry between the two teams.
Read the full report below!
All images: Derek Black.
