By Luke McGinnis
An early slashing penalty on Keanu Yamamoto gave Belfast the first power-play opportunity of the game, which J.J. Piccinich capitalised on at 05:07 with a shot from the high slot that beat Jarrett Fiske over the glove.
It didn’t take long for the Stars to equalise on a power-play of their own, as Kameron Kielly took advantage of an interference call against Karl Boudrais and fired the puck over Alexis Gravel at 08:08.
Just as it looked like the score would remain level heading into the first intermission, Dundee pounced on a Giants defensive breakdown and grabbed the lead with six seconds left in the period. Ben Almquist showed his speed by chasing down a loose puck and sending it toward the net, where Matt Berry redirected it past Gravel at 19:54.
The Stars once again came out strong in the opening minutes of the period, highlighted by Jonathan McBean putting his body on the line to block a shot from the blue line. Despite this, an interference call against Matt Boudens proved costly, allowing the home side to even the score at 26:42 through a slapshot from the faceoff circle by Nicolas Guay.
Hampus Olsson responded almost immediately, restoring the Stars’ lead at 27:30. Matt Berry jumped on a Giants turnover, and fed the puck to the Swede who sent a powerful shot past Gravel to make it 3-2.
A holding penalty on Kris Inglis gave Belfast a key chance to score their third goal of the night. However, a turnover by Gravel in his own zone allowed Jackson DeSouza to fire the puck into an empty net shorthanded at 32:56, making it 4-2 and forcing the home team to make a goaltender change.
With Craig Moore called for slashing, Jake Gaudet pulled a goal back for the Giants at 37:20 on the power play, tipping Mike Lee’s shot from the point past Fiske and making it 4-3 heading into the final period.
After Nicolas Guay took an interference penalty, Ben Almquist showed a high level of skill and patience in close, sliding the puck past Jackson Whistle on the power play at 45:10 to restore the Stars’ two-goal lead at 5-3.
The Giants cut the deficit to one again at 49:05, with Jake Gaudet redirecting a shot by J.J. Piccinich off the rush past Jarrett Fiske for his second goal of the night. It didn’t take long for the Stars to once again find the back of the net however, as Matt Boudens took the puck from behind the Giants’ net and wrapped it around past Whistle at 52:49 to make it 6-4.
Justin Bean added a seventh less than two minutes later at 54:46 finding open ice in the Belfast zone and firing the puck into the Giants’ net to seal the final score at 7-4 and secure a huge road win.
The Stars’ return to action tonight at home against the Glasgow Clan, with face-off scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Dundee Ice Arena.
