TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 2 CARDIFF DEVILS 5
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars were unable to break their winless run as they fell to another defeat on Sunday night, with a 5-2 loss to Cardiff Devils being the latest in a seven-game drought.
By Kris Smith
The Stars welcomed the Devils to Tayside and Dundee would go 1-0 up in the first three minutes as a smart pass from Brendan Harms behind the net found Zach Tsekos alone and in front of goal, where he shot past Ben Bowns.
However, the Taysiders lead was short lived as Josh MacDonald levelled things up just 17 seconds after the restart and two minutes later, an unmarked Kohen Olischefski would blast home the go-ahead goal for the Devils.
The Stars would respond well though as Philippe Sanche caught a pass from Kameron Kielly in the eight minute and fired low past the Devils keeper from close range.
Dundee then had a few good chances to regain the lead but some poor defending allowed Brett Perlini to put the Welsh club ahead on 15 minutes as he fired across goal and beat Jarrett Fiske to his left side.
Pete Russell’s men then cashed in for a fourth goal with a powerplay marker in the 19th minute as Dundee’s Craig Garrigan was punished for a hooking foul and that allowed MacDonald to net his second of the night with an effort from distance that beat an unsighted Fiske.
The Devils took their 4-2 lead into the first intermission and that scoreline would remain unchanged for the next 39 minutes and both sides became locked in a battle for the next goal, with tensions boiling over throughout the match.
Both Bowns and Fiske had made a number of key stops for their respective sides to keep the score as it was but eventually in the final minute of the game and with the Devils on another powerplay, Marc LeFebvre gambled and swapped his goalie for an extra attacker.
Although, Riley Brandt would easily slot into the empty net with 41 seconds left on the clock to give Cardiff their second powerplay goal of the evening and to seal the victory for the visitors.
Next weekend, Dundee begin their busy festive schedule of double headers, starting off with Scottish rivals, Glasgow Clan as they face them on the road and then at home, with points a must to keep themselves within touching distance of the playoff spots.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #49 Xavier Pouliot
Cardiff: #21 Kohen Olischefski
Goals
1st:
1-0 Zach Tsekos (Brendan Harms, Kyle Pouncy) 02:51
1-1 Josh MacDonald (Evan Mosey) 03:08
1-2 Kohen Olischefski (Cole Sanford) 05:16
2-2 Philippe Sanche (Kameron Kielly, Drydn Dow) 07:12
2-3 Brett Perlini (Gleason Fournier) 15:56
2-4 Josh MacDonald (Cody Donaghey) 18:35 PPG
2nd:
3rd:
2-5 Riley Brandt (Unassisted) 59:19 ENG
All images: Derek Black.
