Stars come good as Flyers lose out in Dundee

Pacha’s men rewarded for solid derby defensive display

Dundee Stars head coach Omar Pacha got exactly what he wanted last night as another solid defensive performance from his team saw off rivals Fife Flyers at Dundee Ice Arena.

Pacha’s men came back from a goal down to achieve a confidence-boosting Elite League result, with the defeat ending a five-game winning streak for Fife.

Both sides had early chances to take the lead with Stars netminder Travis Fullerton proving difficult to beat, while Dundee forward Malcolm Gould missed two chances to put the hosts ahead.

Gould then sat for hooking in the second minute as Fife had an early chance to flaunt their strong powerplay but Dundee did well to kill it off and broke their opposition down.

A one-timer from Shayne Stockton was tipped wide by the Dundee goalie to keep the game scoreless and Stars almost got the lead when Joey De Concilys’ slapshot created a loose puck but Andy Iles swiftly covered it up.

Fife got a second powerplay as Gould went back to the box for slashing but Dundee were once again strong on the penalty kill.

Justin Fox went through on a breakaway but the Flyers netminder denied him once more.

Dundee were handed their first man advantage of the game when Ian Young was charged with interference.

However, it was Todd Dutiaume’s men who took advantage of the situation on 11 minutes with Evan Bloodoff stealing the puck and going around two Stars defenceman before popping it over the shoulder of the Dundee keeper.

A scramble on the doorstep of the Fife net saw Iles forced into making a double save but referee Neil Wilson stopped the play before Dundee could net.

Stars then won the face-off and Riley Stadel unleashed a rocket from the blueline that flew past Iles to tie the game on 12 minutes.

The hosts stunned Flyers by taking the lead just a minute later when Gabriel Lévesque smashed home a rebound.

Dundee were defending strongly and when De Concilys flung the puck goalward it appeared to be going wide until bouncing off the boards for Gould to power home.

Fife were only dangerous on the powerplay but Omar Pacha’s tactics were spot on as they shut down their biggest rivals.

As the game progressed Fullerton continued to make save after save to leave the opposition frustrated. The home side made it 4-1 and three powerplay goals as Jimmy Jensen’s shot hit a Flyer and was deflected past Iles.

Dutiaume’s men began to mount a comeback but it could have been 5-1 just before the second buzzer as Jordan Cownie was denied by the pads of Iles.

Fullerton was once again there to backstop Dundee as the Kirkcaldy team picked up an early man advantage in the third period after Fife had ramped up their revival efforts.

Fullerton dealt with a number of difficult shots and the same could be said for Iles, who was forced to make hard saves as he dived across his goal to deny Gould a second goal.

Fife had been given their big chance as referee wilson hit the stars with continuous penalties, which resulted in two five-on-three situations, but Fullerton and Dundee’s penalty killers were defiant as they blanked another set of Flyers’ powerplays in the dying moments.

Fife managed to bag a second goal to reduce the deficit to 4-2 after a puck trickled through to Liam Heelis and he tapped in at the open back door with 28 seconds left to play.

by Kris Smith