Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Fallen Stars now need to beat Flyers
DUNDEE Stars came back to tie the score twice in Cardiff, but were ultimately beaten 6-3 by the Devils in South Wales.
Last night’s defeat means they will have to beat Tayside rivals Fife Flyers this weekend to secure a place in the play-offs.
Stars were missing three players from their roster. Keeper Lucas Brine was given the start between the pipes after coming in mid-game on Saturday for Kevin Carr, who joined Josh Brittain and Craig Garrigan on the sidelines.
After a scoreless opening five minutes, the end-to-end game produced its first goal as Brandon Alderson fired Jamie Arniel’s squared pass beyond Brine to put Cardiff in front.
However, Dundee hit back three minutes later. Carter Johnson won the puck back along the boards then fed a pass out to Brent Beaudoin, who had a two-on-one break with Jake Elmer in tow.
Beaudoin drew in the defender before passing to Elmer and he buried his shot high over the shoulder of Ben Bowns in the Cardiff net.
The tensions then started to boil over between the two sides as Brendan Harms and Cardiff’s Cole Sanford came together at the benches, before Xavier Pouliot and Devils defender River Rymsha got involved and all would end up in the penalty box except Sanford, which put Cardiff on the powerplay.
While on the two-minute man advantage, Pete Russell’s men regained the lead when Joey Martin picked out the top-right corner when firing across the goal in the 17th minute.
In the second period, Martin bagged a second goal at the halfway mark as he beat Brine from the slot, but that goal came shortly after the Stars keeper made two last-ditch saves to keep the puck from crossing his line.
Dundee pushed back hard and, after plenty near-misses, they found themselves in on a breakaway.
Chris McKay was bearing down on the Devils goal, but was hooked by Cody Donaghey as he shot, resulting in a penalty shot for the Stars.
McKay deked the puck past Bowns to cut it back to a one-goal game and, early into the third period, Marc LeFebvre’s side won another penalty shot when Elmer was fouled in his way to goal.
The Canadian netted his second of the night with another high shot past
Bowns in the 44th minute and that tied the game at 3-3. However, five minutes later, the home team cashed in on another powerplay as Trevor Cox fired into the roof of the Stars net.
Ben Davies then added a fifth goal for the Devils 39 seconds after the restart with a rising effort from the right circle.
That sparked more tension between the two sides and right from the restart James Phelan and Riley Brandt dropped the gloves for a quick but furious scrap, with the pair firing rapid blows.
Play resumed and the Welsh side scored again. Drydn Dow could not get enough on a loose puck in the crease to get it away from danger and Martin completed his hat-trick by finishing off a failed clearance to make it 6-3.
Another scrap would start in the 58th minute after Phelan delivered a hard hit in the Devils end.
Josh Batch made him answer for it as he came straight after the Stars forward, but the pair hardly got going as the linesmen were quick to step in.
The final buzzer sounded to confirm the Stars would stay on 49 points, but they can still secure their place in the play-offs this weekend when they take on Fife Flyers in back-to-back games.