TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 2 COVENTRY BLAZE 5

The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars split their weekend with a win and a loss as they made a late comeback attempt but came up short on home ice against Coventry Blaze on Sunday night.

By Kris Smith

The Stars were able to ice a full line-up with only the injured Jake Elmer missing out as a scratch from the roster and the Blaze arrived in Dundee with seven defenders and only 10 forwards, as they played one man down.

The match got off to a fast-paced start with both teams looking to get the puck in behind early and force some defensive erros but both Dundee’s Kevin Carr and Taran Kozun in the Blaze goal were in fine form from minute one.

Penalties would soon start to be called and the first of the evening would go against the Tayside team as forward, Johnny Walker was punished for a cross-check.

Despite a brave effort from the Stars on the penalty kill and where they put bodies on the line, in the final seconds Ian McNulty’s saved shot would rebound out for Kobe Roth to tap home and give the English side the lead.

Marc LeFebvre’s men would come close to an equaliser but were unlucky to not find a way past Kozun before the end of the first period,

In the second session, the Blaze were quickly handed an opportunity to double their advantage as Mitch Cook was fouled as he went through on goal and that earned the visitors a penalty shot, just 30 seconds after the restart.

Coventry’s Danny Kristo would step out to take the penalty shot but would see his effort bounce off the leg pads of Carr and Dundee remained just one goal behind.

However, Kristo would not pass up his next opportunity as he snuck down the right flank and in towards the back post, where he would turn McNulty’s pass up into the top corner of Carr’s goal, making it 2-0 on 23 minutes.

As the Stars powerplay faltered, the West Midlands club continued to capitalise on rebounds as Alessio Luciani bagged his second goal of the weekend when he lifted the puck over the Dundee keeper, who had sprawled out to make three saves before it became 3-0 to the Blaze after 32 minutes.

The home side were digging deep to find a way back into the game but were struggling to get shots through to and then past Kozun, although a late penalty against Coventry gave Dundee’s powerplay unit an opportunity to go to work on both sides of the second intermission.

The third period saw the Stars start with still over one minute left on their man advantage but it took just 23 seconds for them to get on the board as Brendan Harms redirected, Drydn Dow’s powerful shot past Kozun, cutting the gap to two goals.

With Dundee pushing for more goals, the Blaze hit back against the run of play as a missed chance at one end saw Coventry break and restore their three-goal lead through Ian McNulty on 51 minutes.

Harms would then supply another goal for the Stars to reignite their fight as he tucked home the rebound from Spencer Naas’ shot inside 54 minutes and made it 4-2 with just more than six minutes to play.

Danny Stewart’s side would then score into an empty net in the final two minutes as Dundee gambled with their goalie in their bid to find two late goals but Kristo would find the net from halfway down the ice to seal a 5-2 win for the Blaze, which leaves the Stars still in seventh place with seven points from eight matches.

Man of the Match

Dundee: #81 Brendan Harms

Coventry: #31 Taran Kozun

Goals

1st:

0-1 Kobe Roth (Ian McNulty, Brady Norrish) 14:54 PPG

2nd:

0-2 Danny Kristo (Ian McNulty) 23:58

0-3 Alessio Luciani (Cole Donhauser) 32:23

3rd:

1-3 Brendan Harms (Drydn Dow, Spencer Naas) 40:23 PPG

1-4 Ian McNulty (Danny Kristo, David Clements) 51:49

2-4 Brendan Harms (Spencer Naas, Ryan Valentini) 53:53

2-5 Danny Kristo (Kobe Roth, Ian McNulty) 58:35 ENG

All images: Derek Black.