NOTTINGHAM PANTHERS 2 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 5

The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars made it back-to-back wins for the weekend as they defeated Nottingham Panthers 5-2 away from home after coming back from 2-1 behind.

By Kris Smith

The Stars were still missing injured duo Xavier Pouliot and Brogan O’Brien but that did not stop them from taking the lead for a second game in a row as Domenic Alberga’s shot in the 10th minute would be deflected by the skate of Alex Tonge past Ryan Bednard in the Nottingham goal.

However, the home team found a way to respond just 54 seconds later as Reid Stefanson picked out the top corner of Richard Sabols’s net from the left wing, ending the Stars keeper’s shutout-streak at 70 minutes and tying the game.

Only eight seconds after the puck was dropped again, the Panthers took the lead as they burst forward and Matt Alfaro would pick out Didrik Henbrant in front of the Dundee goal and he roofed the puck straight past a diving Sabol.

Danny Stewart’s men carried their 2-1 lead into the second period but that is when the game would change as the Stars grabbed control and made their chances count.

With the Taysiders on a powerplay, defenseman Ben O’Connor would blast home his second goal in as many games as Bednard was unable to hold the shot and it rolled across the line in the 22nd minute.

Marc LeFebvre’s side then ramped up their game and quickly regained the lead when both teams were down to four skaters due to overlapping penalties, which saw Brett Gravelle intercept a pass behind the Nottingham goal and play the puck out in front for Kameron Kielly to blast home from point blank range on 26 minutes.

Dundee had their own penalty troubles but were killing them off well and even had the chance to score straight off the back of Jake Elmer’s two-minute minor for tripping as he was sprung in behind on a breakaway as he exited the sin bin but the Canadian could not get full control of the puck before he reached the goalie and Bednard would poke the chance away.

Meanwhile, the Panthers were not so strong when a man down and Stars captain, Drydn Dow would extend the advantage to 4-2 in the 38th minute as he blasted a shot towards goal from the blueline, but a deflection off of Nottingham defender, Josh Tetlow sent the puck into the top corner.

Less than a minute later, Keanu Yamamoto added his name to the scoresheet as he took possession on the right wing and buried his shot straight past Bednard to give the Stars a 5-2 lead going into the final stanza and in the third period they would shut down the English club completely and claim a second straight win and two more league points.

Dundee now sits in seventh place in the league standings with four points from five games and head into a three-game week with a trip to Sheffield Steelers up first on Wednesday before they face the Panthers again on Saturday at home and then cross the River Tay for a Challenge Cup clash with Fife Flyers.

Man of the Match

Dundee: #36 Richard Sabol

Nottingham: #98 Didrik Henbrant

Goals

1st:

0-1 Alex Tonge (Domenic Alberga, Kris Inglis) 09:06

1-1 Reid Stefanson (Oliver Betteridge, Tim Doherty) 10:00

2-1 Didrik Henbrant (Matt Alfaro) 10:08

2nd:

2-2 Ben O’Connor (Alex Tonge, Cole MacDonald) 21:36 PPG

2-3 Kameron Kielly (Brett Gravelle) 26:19

2-4 Drydn Dow (Zach Tsekos, Jake Elmer) 37:55 PPG

2-5 Keanu Yamamoto (Alex Tonge, Ben O’Connor) 38:48

3rd:

All images: Panthers Images.