Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Stars slip up as they fail to take chances
DUNDEE Stars fought hard and created more chances than Guildford Flames last night but failed to make them count as they went down 3-2 on home ice.
The Stars were still missing their injured trio of Kevin Carr, Craig Garrigan and Tommy Parrottino but regained defender Chris McKay after he served his one-game suspension and slotted back in with Craig Moore moving up to the offensive unit again.
The opening minutes were an exact statement of what was to come over the next 20 minutes as a hard-hitting and highly offensive battle broke out and after only 51 seconds Dundee blueliner Kris Inglis was penalised for roughing up Flames forward Matt Alvaro after he laid a dangerous hit on James Phelan into the boards.
Guildford tested netminder Lucas Brine with a few efforts during their man advantage but failed to make the chance count, as did the Stars with their two powerplays later in the first session but they came a lot closer to taking the lead than their opponents.
Ryan Valentini would see his breakaway chance stopped by Taz Burman in the Flames net, before the Elite League’s leading goal scorer, Spencer Naas, fired a shot off the Canadian’s helmet, and Carter Johnson was unfortunate to not see his wraparound attempt land in the back of the net.
The two sides were still stuck in a stalemate at the first intermission with plenty sparks of feistiness flying between the two sets of players in what was a must-win game for both teams.
However, the goals would eventually come in the second session as the visitors opened the scoring through Peter Crinella on 26 minutes as he blasted Alvaro’s pass from behind the net through Brine.
Dundee would continue to create the better scoring chances and Josh Brittain and Jonathan McBean would both go close to getting them off the mark but a combination of luck and
Guildford’s ability to quickly clear their lines kept the Stars out.
Although Burman would be unable to stop Valentini on his second breakaway of the night as he moved in close, forcing the keeper to open his legs and the Canadian dispatched the puck between them in the 33rd minute.
Less than two minutes later, Marc LeFebvre’s men took the lead as Elijah Vilio slapped the puck towards goal, where an unmarked Naas was able to deflect it at the last second and send it into the top-right corner.
Dundee were looking strong with the lead and had Brine producing some great saves at the back, however the next goal would go to Guildford after they quickly broke out of their own end on a counter-attack.
Ryan Tait flew down the right wing and put a shot on net, where Brine got a piece of it before it rebounded off the post and into the path of Jordan Klimek for an easy tap-in with just over a minute to play.
In the third period, the tensions between the two sides continued
to rise as Xavier Pouliot, Brendan Harms and Guildford’s Marcus Tesink were all boxed after handbags in front of the Dundee goal, but again the Flames were not able to cash in on the powerplay.
Paul Dixon’s men found the go-ahead goal on 50 minutes as Klimek got his second of the evening with a deflected shot that came off the stick of a Dundee defender and snuck past Brine.
The Tayside team pushed hard for another equaliser but would continually be denied at the last second by Burman and his defence or watch their shots slip wide by the finest of margins.
Even with an extra attacker and using their timeout in the final minute, Dundee could not get the puck to land in the back of the net and the buzzer sounded to give the Flames the two points and their first regulation victory over the Stars this season.
The Stars will have only one day off before playing Glasgow Clan away tomorrow night and then head across the Irish Sea to face Belfast Giants on Saturday, with points a must once again in both fixtures.