By Luke McGinnis
Fife opened the scoring through Michael Drábek, who redirected a shot from the point by Max Coyle past Carl Stankowski at 04:19.
Mike Petizian doubled the visitors’ lead at 12:16, picking up a stretch pass from Mika Partanen and beating Stankowski on a breakaway.
“I really liked our push, we battled hard tonight,” said Head Coach Scott Dutertre post-game. “It seems like whenever we have a breakdown, it goes into the back of our net, and we need to make sure we take advantage when we get those opportunities.”
Josh Nelson got Dundee on the board early in the second period, beating Jordan McLaughlin with a quick shot off the rush at 22:39.
A tripping call on Cameron Hough gave the Stars their first powerplay of the period, with Travis Ewanyk converting on the man advantage at 29:23 as he knocked the puck past McLaughlin on the doorstep to level the score.
Zachary Power restored Fife’s lead at 32:54 on a powerplay of their own, firing a rebound past Stankowski after the Stars’ netminder had made an initial stop on Drábek.
“Our defensive zone has improved significantly, our penalty kill was really good and it was nice to get our powerplay going again, so there were a lot of positives to take out of that,” added Dutertre. “It’s been a really tough week for the guys in terms of rest and recovery. While I’m not happy with the losses, I’m happy with the effort and proud of our guys.”
Neither side could find the back of the net throughout the third period, despite trading a number of dangerous chances and exchanging slashing penalties. The Stars pushed hard late, pulling Stankowski for an extra attacker and playing 6-on-4 in the closing minute. However, it wasn’t enough, and the Flyers claimed the two points.
“We have a really good room of guys, they do stick together, and that’s something that should really help us further along in the season,” Dutertre concluded.
