By Kris Smith
There was a big welcome by Stars fans for Chris Lawrence on his return from injury, he and his team were fired up to get the two points against the same team that caused his injury four months ago.
Dundee were without Stadel, Harding and Andersson and Fife Flyers were missing Brady Ramsay and Reece Cochrane.
An early chance for Lawrence went wide before Malcolm Gould’s opportunity to shoot from the point was lost after the puck slipped under his stick. Stars were in control as they held possession in the Fife end and Omar Pacha was found at the backdoor by Jimmy Jensen, but his shot was lost under goaltender, Andy Iles.
Dundee continued to attack the Flyers’ defences early on as Gabriel Lévesque sent a pass across the face of goal which Pacha hit first time, but it bounced back off the post before Travis Fullerton was forced to freeze play at the other end. Fife’s James Isaacs intercepted a pass before breaking away, but good defensive work forced the defender to shoot the puck into the pads of the Dundee goalie who made the save whilst in the butterfly position.
Lukas Lundvald fired a shot that Brian Hart tried to jam home, but he could not force it past the leg pads of Iles. Lundvald again shot the puck at Iles but this time it was lost under the Fife goalie before Lundvald made sure it crossed the line at 7:35.
Pacha was sent to the penalty box twenty seconds later for cross-checking as the visitors got the first man advantage of the night. Fife failed to capitalise on the opportunity but were given a second chance when Lawrence then sat for slashing in the eleventh minute. Flyers built pressure on the attack and the play ended when one shot became stuck between the legs of Fullerton.
Another shot then forced the Stars goalie to dive on top of a rebound to stop the incoming Peter LeBlanc from scoring an easy goal after the powerplay had once again expired. Cody Carlson tried a first-time shot, but his stick snapped and the opportunity was gone.
Evan Bloodoff was charged with high sticking, which gave Dundee their first powerplay in the fourteenth minute. Dundee could not find a second goal from the man advantage but at the other end a slapshot from the point was saved by the Stars keeper and the rebound was beaten away by Joey De Concilys to secure a 1-0 lead at the first break.
Fife started the second period on the powerplay and a quick slapshot by Ian Young forced Fullerton to make the save with his chest before he quickly snatched the rebound out of mid-air. Stars killed their third penalty of the game after Lundvald was given a slashing minor at the end of the first.
Then, a very quick move by the Flyers seen Liam Heelis send a quick pass to LeBlanc, who shot it past the stacked pads of Fullerton at 22:45. Lundvald got away from his marker, despite some very flashy skills his effort was saved before the rebound caused a scramble in front but Iles was quick to cover the puck.
Hart received a pass from Jensen and the American quickly shot it through the legs of the Flyers netminder to restore the Stars lead at 27:47, whilst still shorthanded. However, a few minutes later a diving block by De Concilys stopped the backdoor pass and what would have been a goal for Fife.
The game quickly turned into each team trying to create breakaways as both desperately searched for the game’s next goal. A few moments later it was, Gould who provided it, he skated into the zone behind the play and fired a wrist shot that hit the inside of the post before landing in the back of the net at 31:05. This led to Todd Dutiaume using his timeout as Dundee extended their lead to 3-1.
Fife broke 2-on-1 late in the period and as Pacha took away the extra man Fullerton raised his glove and his leg to make the save and protect his side’s lead. A very slow section of play resulted in a Flyers goal as Jorgensen dropped the puck before he skated around the net and Shayne Stockton was there at the front post to slide it under Fullerton at 36:08. Chase Schaber gave Stars the chance to regain their two-goal lead as he picked up an interference penalty in the thirty-eighth minute.
The final period of regulation time started off with Lawrence having a go at Danick Gauthier, the player who caused the Stars captain to miss four months through injury. Lawrence was given a double-minor penalty for roughing as Fife went on the powerplay for four minutes. Dundee killed off the first two minutes but then Evan Bloodoff cut across the crease and popped his shot up over the glove of Fullerton to tie the game at 43:32.
Schaber returned to the box, this time on a roughing call in the forty-eighth minute but yet again the powerplay was killed off. A blocked shot flew up into the air from the face-off and one Dundee skater had a whack at it but the shot went just wide of the Fife net. After some pushing and shoving Levesque got a minor roughing penalty for jabbing one of the visitors in the chin, with just over eight minutes left. The closest Fife came to scoring on the powerplay was when Young struck the post with his slapshot form the blueline. The road team built some pressure but Fullerton was diving around his crease to keep the score at 3-3 as he made save after save. De Concilys went head first into the boards during play and headed to the locker room and that sparked a few more altercations as multiple players were exchanging words and checks. The Stars assistant captain returned from the dressing room before the game headed into overtime after still being tied at three apiece.
Hart and Bloodoff both had good chances but couldn’t beat the goalies before one shot from Gould was saved and Lawrence missed the rebound but Cody Carlson was there to shoot the puck from the middle of the slot straight past the already down and beaten Andy Iles. The game-winning goal and Carlson’s first in a Stars jersey came at 61:42.
Dundee remain unbeaten at home against the Flyers this season and now move on to face Edinburgh Capitals tonight in Murrayfield Ice Rink at 6pm.
