CARDIFF DEVILS 7 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 3
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars pushed the Cardiff Devils all the way until the final minutes but would eventually be beaten 7-3 in their final visit of the regular season to the Vindico Arena.
By Kris Smith
The Stars had found themselves 1-0 down after the first period as Bradley Schoonbaert turned home the rebound from Riley Brandt’s saved effort on 11 minutes.
Although, the Taysiders had their chances and tested Ben Bowns in the Cardiff goal but could not beat the Englishman until the 33rd minute, but by that point the home team had opened up a 3-0 lead.
Josh MacDonald got on the end of Joey Martin’s perfectly placed pass to the backdoor and finished easily past Jarrett Fiske to double their advantage just 58 seconds into the second session and on the Devils’ first powerplay of the night, Brett Perlini would convert inside 26 minutes.
However, Dundee then had their first chance on the man advantage and got off the mark as Spencer Naas’ shot would be stopped by Bowns but the Team GB netminder could not then stop Philippe Sanche from scoring on the rebound.
Marc LeFebvre’s men went into the final intermission still 3-1 down but again had their chances to cut into the Welsh club’s lead and in the third period, Cardiff took a choke hold of the game by adding two more quick goals.
Just two minutes after the restart, Tyler Busch would tip Cody Donaghey’s effort past Fiske for a second powerplay goal of the night for the Devils and then two minutes later, Josh MacDonald bagged his brace as he skated the puck past the Stars keeper.
However, tensions soon began to flare between both sides and after a huge pile of bodies came together for some roughing, Dundee came away with another powerplay and Keanu Yamamoto would pick the top corner of the Cardiff net to make it 5-2 in the 49th minute.
The physicality did not die down after that as Martin and Sanche then dropped the gloves just a minute later and Pete Russell’s side then found themselves a man down once more, allowing Drydn Dow to make it a hat-trick of powerplay goals for the Stars, as he converted from distance on 50 minutes.
At 5-3, Dundee were hungry for more and all the pressure went on to the Devils but they were able to keep the visitors out for the remainder of that match and found some breathing room again with a sixth goal in the 55th minute.
Benjamin Almquist would tap in a loose puck at the post before Donaghey then added his name to the scoresheet and Cardiff’s seventh on the night, to round off the scoring two minutes from time.
The Stars must regrouo quickly as they finish off their weekend road trip against Guildford Flames in Surrey tomorrow night and winning two points will be vital for their aim of securing a playoff spot.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #6 Drydn Dow
Cardiff: #92 Josh MacDonald
Goals
1st:
1-0 Bradley Schoonbaert (Riley Brandt, Sam Duggan) 11:52
2nd:
2-0 Josh MacDonald (Joey Martin, Gleason Fournier) 20:58
3-0 Brett Perlini (Zach O’Brien, Cole Sanford) 25:21 PPG
3-1 Philippe Sanche (Spencer Naas, Drydn Dow) 32:15 PPG
3rd:
4-1 Tyler Busch (Cody Donaghey, Josh MacDonald) 42:11 PPG
5-1 Josh MacDonald (Unassisted) 44:27
5-2 Keanu Yamamoto (Ben O’Connor, Jonathan McBean) 48:17 PPG
5-3 Drydn Dow (Zach Tsekos, Spencer Naas) 50:16 PPG
6-3 Benjamin Almquist (Tyler Busch, Jarrod Gourley) 54:14
7-3 Cody Donaghey (Tyler Busch, Ryan Barrow) 57:33
All images: James Assinder.
