TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 3 MANCHESTER STORM 4
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars went back and forth with Manchester Storm for 40 minutes before the English side edged out a lead late in the game and fought hard to hold on for the win, on Saturday night in Dundee.
By Kris Smith
The Stars were looking for a four-point weekend to start 2025 after picking up a victory in Cardiff against the Devils on Friday but they would find themselves 1-0 down after six minutes, despite putting Manchester under pressure in the first few minutes.
The Storm would take the lead through Owen Griffiths as he deflected Loren Ulett’s pass into the top corner of Jarrett Fiske’s goal while standing to the left of the Dundee net.
However, Griffiths then took a slashing penalty on 11 minutes and that allowed the home team to respond as Ben O’Connor’s shot from the blue line was tipped in by Brendan Harms on the doorstep of Evan Weninger’s goal, in the 13th minute.
The Stars then swiftly took the lead as they raced forward and captain, Drydn Dow moved down the left wing before cutting a pass back to Kameron Kielly, who was sitting on the edge of the Storm crease and tapped home the go-ahead-goal, on 14 minutes.
Marc LeFebvre’s men could have extended their lead with multiple good chances but remained only 2-1 ahead and in the second period, Mike Morin’s side found an equaliser through Alexis D’Aoust as he skated through the Dundee zone and deked the puck past Fiske in the 26th minute.
Although, Philippe Sanche would restore the Taysiders lead just 90 seconds later as Zach Tsekos played the puck to him at the back post of Weninger’s goal and he turned it home to make it 3-1 but the Storm would soon level the score once more, even after failing to capitalise on two powerplays.
In the 35th minute, Ulett would attempt to pass the puck across the Dundee goal but it struck the goal post and sprung out to the middle of the ice for Cameron Critchlow and he fired past Fiske as he tried to set himself for the shot.
The two teams could not be separated after 40 minutes but Manchester had piled the pressure on Dundee for the last 10 minutes of the second period and in the third, they continued to test the Stars defence.
Eventually, the Altrincham side took the lead again as the home team failed to clear their lines and D’Aoust netted his second with a backhanded finish on a loose puck after 45 minutes.
Dundee then tried to mount a comeback but struggled to breakdown Manchester as they sat in and held on to their lead for the remainder of the game, which meant the Storm had closed the gap to just one point behind Dundee as they cling on to the final playoff spot.
Next up for the Stars is a trip across the River Tay for a Tayside Derby against Fife Flyers on Saturday night before they host Nottingham Panthers on Sunday.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #81 Brendan Harms
Manchester: #17 Alexis D’Aoust
Goals
1st:
0-1 Owen Griffith (Loren Ulett, Chase Harrison) 06:51
1-1 Brendan Harms (Ben O’Connor, Zach Tsekos) 12:20 PPG
2-1 Kameron Kielly (Drydn Dow, Brendan Harms) 14:06
2nd:
2-2 Alexis D’Aoust (Ryan Hughes, Joe Morrow) 25:55
3-2 Philippe Sanche (Zach Tsekos, Brett Gravelle) 27:25
3-3 Cameron Critchlow (Loren Ulett, Zach Sullivan) 34:38
3rd:
3-4 Alexis D’Aoust (Grant Hebert, Noah Carroll) 45:29
All images: Derek Black.
