The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Stars shine brightly to boost play-off hopes
ICE HOCKEY: Flyers also have a good night to round off high-scoring weekend
A high-scoring middle period saw Dundee Stars back on track in the race for the final play-off spot last night as they defeated Milton Keynes Lightning 9-4 at the Ice Arena.
It was the visitors who grabbed the lead when a bad giveaway in Stars’ zone allowed Lightning to skate in with the puck and Denny Kearney passed it to the waiting Tommy Mele who beat Travis Fullerton from a wide angle at 5:36.
Milton Keynes swiftly doubled their lead as Kevin King flicked a backhanded shot past Fullerton at 5:51.
Omar Pacha had clearly got his side fired up in the break as Stars pulled a goal back after just 24 seconds in the second period. Hart was forechecking well and a loose puck in front of the Milton Keynes goal was controlled by Hart. He passed to the unmarked Lukas Lundvald who fired into the open net.
Stars were looking extremely dangerous in the Lightning zone and inevitably an equaliser came. Hart dropped a pass off to Mimar and he released a beautiful shot that flew into the top corner of Jindrich Pacl’s net at 23:41.
Dundee went in front when Gabriel Lévesque passed to Malcolm Gould and he lifted a shot high into the net as Pacl came down low to try to make the save at 27:25.
Lightning were level when Fullerton was forced to make two good saves, but he couldn’t get back into position before Guillaume Doucet blasted a shot home at 28:23.
The game was not tied at 3-3 for long as Dundee went straight back on the attack. Lundvald was robbed by the pad of Pacl before a mix-up in the Milton Keynes defence allowed Lévesque to drag the keeper away from his net.
The Stars forward sent a pass back across goal to Mimar who tapped it in at the back post at 30:22.
Dundee doubled their advantage when Lundvald, from behind the goal, quickly sent a pass to Hart who was in front of goal and he slid it under Pacl to make it 5-3 at 32:52.
It was no surprise when Stars made it three for three on the powerplay when Riley Stadel unleashed a rocket of a slapshot that the Lightning keeper had no chance of stopping – 6-3 Stars at 34:12.
Milton Keynes got a great start to the third period after some scrappy play in front led to Fullerton being unable to hold a shot and the puck fell to Kearney, who tucked it home just after the powerplay expired at 41:31.
However, once again Stars answered quickly and Lundvald was involved again. As he went to pass the puck across the goal it deflected off the stick of Evan Stoflet and into the goal at 42:35.
The home side continued to push for more goals and netted their eighth through Johan Andersson after a loose puck came to the Swede and he blasted a shot into the net at 44:09.
In the final minute of play, Jordan Cownie slipped a pass through to Lévesque and he beat Hedley with a lovely move to round off the scoring at 9-4 after 59:36.
Fife Flyers were involved in a highscoring clash at Murrayfield Ice Rink where they won 8-5 against Edinburgh Capitals.
Chase Schaber (2), Shayne Stockton (2), Charlie Mosey, Peter Leblanc, Carlo Finucci and Dan Correale were on target for the Kirkcaldy men.
On Saturday, Stars’ play-off hopes looked to have suffered a blow when they went down 4-2 to Coventry Blaze at the Ice Arena. Brian Hart and Emerson Hrynyk scored for Dundee.
Fife Flyers were edged 3-2 at secondplaced Manchester Storm on the same night, despite holding a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period thanks to goals from Chase Schaber and Jim Jorgensen.