TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 4 MANCHESTER STORM 1
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars completed a four-point weekend with a four-goal win over Manchester Strom at home on Saturday night and moved into sixth place in the Elite League table.
By Kris Smith
The Stars made one change from their winning line-up in Glasgow as Tommy Parrottino came back in for the injured Josh Brittain and netminder, Kevin Carr kept his place between the pipes after a 31-save performance in his first game back after being sidelined with a lower-body injury for six games.
In typical playoff style, it was a fast-paced and physical battle right from the start as both teams pushed hard for an early advantage but Dundee were able to make Storm goalie, Evan Weninger the busier of the two.
Matt Ginn then lost his top scorer against Dundee, Tyler Hinam through injury as he left the ice after a hard collision against the boards in the fourth minute but that did not stop the visitors from taking the lead two minutes later as Austin Farley scored on a powerplay.
Stars forward, Carter Johnson was sent to the sin bin for interference and just 25 seconds into the powerplay Farley latched onto a loose rebound and lifted it past the diving Carr, after he made a number of big saves in the build-up.
The home team then made a big push for an equaliser but were continually stonewalled by Weninger whenever they got forward and Manchester put on an impressive penalty kill after Callum Fryer was called for hooking Dundee’s Anthony Rinaldi as he flew past and towards the Storm goal.
The Storm were pinned in their own end for a majority of the kill and were struggling to get a line change but their defence made block after block and Weninger backed them up with saves when needed.
The Taysiders would eventually find an equaliser after Brendan Harms made a smart play to pass the puck out in front from behind the net and after Spencer Naas saw his effort saved, Ryan Valentini blasted home the rebound on 17 minutes.
In the second period, Dundee made a change in net as Carr was replaced by Lucas Brine and despite coming in cold, he was able to repel the Storms first few shots.
In fact Brine would keep the visitors out for the entire second period as his defence limited the Storm to only a couple of shots on target and gave the crowd a big boost with another late goal.
After failing to cash in on another powerplay, Dundee took the lead inside 38 minutes as Johnson tipped Xavier Pouliot’s shot past Weninger, from the edge of the crease.
The Storm took another penalty late in the middle stanza and did well to stop the Stars from doubling their advantage but in the third period the home side took control of the game as Manchester continued to put themselves on the backfoot with poor discipline.
Anthony Rinaldi would convert a breakaway in the 53rd minute to put Dundee two goals clear after he was played in behind by Kyle Pouncy and easily deked his way past Weninger.
Two minutes later, Elijah Vilio would add a fourth goal for the Scots with a shot from the blueline that beat the Storm keeper up high and that sent the crowd into elation as Marc LeFebvre’s men rounded off a perfect weekend.
The Stars have moved up to claim sixth place in the Elite League table with only three fixtures remaining but next they face a mid-week trip to Wales to take on Cardiff Devils this Wednesday.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #44 Lucas Brine
Manchester: #35 Evan Weninger
Goals
1st:
0-1 Austin Farley (Cameron Critchlow, Matt Murphy) 06:03 PPG
1-1 Ryan Valentini (Brendan Harms, Spencer Naas) 17:01
2nd:
2-1 Carter Johnson (Xavier Pouliot, Jake Elmer) 37:27
3rd:
3-1 Anthony Rinladi (Tommy Parrottino, Kyle Pouncy) 52:52
4-1 Ryan Valentini (Elijah Vilio, Spencer Naas) 54:37
All images: Derek Black.
