The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Mimar the Dundee hero as Stars see off the Caps
CHALLENGE CUP: Pacha praises side after comeback victory puts them top
DUNDEE STARS 4 EDINBURGH CAPITALS 3 (AFTER PENALTY SHOOT-OUT)
Dundee Stars topped the Challenge Cup Group A standings after a dramatic home shootout win over the Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday.
The Stars went into their second fixture still short-benched with Lawrence and Mastrodicasa on the sidelines, while Edinburgh were missing five players from their line-up, most notably last season’s top scorer Pavel Vorobyev, who has yet to arrive back in the country.
Dundee had the first chance as Jimmy Jensen’s shot was saved just 19 seconds into play and it was the Stars who had the majority of possession for the first five minutes.
Edinburgh got on the board first as they broke into the Dundee end. The puck came to Juris Upitis who pulled it back across the sliding goalie Travis Fullerton and into the net.
Dundee failed to level the score on the powerplay before Igor Valeyev made it 2-0 to Dmitri Khristich’s side after a pass in front of goal by Upitis was smashed past Fullerton.
Patrick Lee got the hosts on the board seven minutes into the second period, beating Pavel Shegalo in the Capitals net from a tight angle after a fast break by the Stars.
Dundee found an equaliser 10 minutes later as Emerson Hrynyk stopped a clearance, stepped in to the slot and fired a shot through traffic. The puck was loose under Shegalo but Tyler Brickler poked it across the goal-line.
The third period started with some penalties after Callum Boyd crashed into the Stars goalie, who took exception and so did his team-mates as a few jabs were thrown at the Edinburgh player.
The result was an Edinburgh powerplay after Emerson Hrynyk received a double-minor and Callum Boyd was assessed a single penalty.
It was deadlock game after that as both teams missed chances and netminders made save after save, despite the Capitals having another powerplay opportunity.
Although in the final three minutes Riley Stadel was assessed a two-minute cross-checking penalty by referee Paul Staniforth and this time Edinburgh would punish the Stars, a shot by Dylan Anderson was redirected by new signing Dillon Lawrence and Fullerton could not keep it out.
Dundee turned up the intensity with just 90 seconds remaining. Hrynyk received a pass, fired through traffic and a screened Shegalo could not make the save.
The game then went into overtime and eventually required penalty shots to find a winner.
Mike Cazzola and Patrick Lee went first for their sides but neither of them could find the twine, while Igor Valeyev and Malcom Gould also suffered the same fate.
Sergei Banashkov had a chance to put Stars under pressure but he was denied by the pad of Fullerton, while Riley Stadel could have repeated his heroics from the Belfast game but hit the side-netting after a great move.
It came down to sudden-death and after Marc-Oliver Mimar had scored for Stars Lawrence slid his effort wide of the net and Dundee took the extra point in a 4-3 win.
Stars head coach Omar Pacha said: “We responded really well in the second period and played with a lot of energy.
“It was an unfortunate bounce on their third goal but I was happy with the response. It was great to get the two points and get to the top of the group in the challenge cup phase.”