BELFAST GIANTS 5 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 2
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars winning run was halted by the Belfast Giants as they claimed a 5-2 victory on home ice in the first of back-to-back matches against the Tayside team to round of 2024.
By Kris Smith
The Stars made some changes to their line-up as forward Domenic Alberga dropped out and that allowed both import netminders to be named with Richard Sabol being handed the start, while Scotsman Joshua Saunders was also added into the forward lines.
Belfast looked dangerous from the off and tested Dundee early on but Sabol and his defence were able to clear their lines and at the other end, Tom McCollum in the Giants goal was kept on his toes by some quick counter-attacks.
The first goal of the night came on 14 minutes as Scott Conway converted on the home team’s second powerplay of the night as Zach Tsekos was sent to the penalty box for slashing, allowing Conway to blast home the pass from Gabe Bast and beat a moving Sabol.
Adam Keefe’s men were still 1-0 ahead at the first break and made sure to quickly double their lead as Grant Mismash picked out the top right corner of the Dundee goal on 22 minutes, after Belfast had a two-on-one break down the ice.
The Stars soon responded to make it a one-goal game again as Zach Tsekos got them off the mark in the 28th minute and the goal came after McCollum had made the save on Brett Gravelle’s effort from the right side, but the puck came straight to Tsekos on the left and he fired into a gaping goal.
Just as Dundee were begging to find their way back into the game and getting close to an equaliser, Bobo Carpenter would restore the Giants two-goal cushion with a shorthanded goal as he managed to fight his way past Stars captain, Drydn Dow before dispatching the puck past Sabol on 34 minutes.
Marc LeFebvre’s side remained two goals down heading to the third period but would once again cut the lead to one as Jake Elmer’s powerplay strike inside 47 minutes make it 3-2.
Belfast keeper, McCollum thought he had the puck to the left of his goal but it was still loose and Dundee’s Kameron Kielly took the puck behind the net before playing a pass out to Elmer and he shot into a wide-open net.
The Stars again pushed hard for a leveller but as the game reached the final minutes, it was do or die and the Giants would punish the Scots for a mistake with less than three minutes to play as the puck sprung out of the Belfast zone and despite Dundee having a three-on-one advantage in the race for possession, J.J. Piccinich emerged with the puck.
The Belfast forward sped down the ice and buried his shot straight over Sabol’s blocker side to again put the Northern Irish side two-goals ahead but they would wrap up the two points with four seconds left on the clock as Pierre-Olivier Morin hit an empty Dundee net after the Stars gambled for a miracle comeback.
There is no time to rest for either side as they face the quickest of turnarounds and do it all again in Dundee tomorrow afternoon as 2024 is closed out at the DIA.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #17 Zach Tsekos
Belfast: #15 Bobo Carpenter
Goals
1st:
1-0 Scott Conway (Gabe Bast, Elijiah Barriga) 14:39 PPG
2nd:
2-0 Grant Mismash (Mark Cooper) 22:08
2-1 Zach Tsekos (Brett Gravelle, Kris Inglis) 27:28
3-1 Bobo Carpenter (Unassisted) 34:06 SHG
3rd:
3-2 Jake Elmer (Kameron Kielly, Zach Tsekos) 46:19 PPG
4-2 J.J. Piccinich (Unassisted) 57:34
5-2 Pierre-Olivier Morin (Unassisted) 59:56 ENG
All images: Phillip Magowan/Presseye.
