The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Battling Stars pipped to the bronze medal
Dundee Stars have finished fourth in the end-of-season Elite Ice Hockey League play-offs after a 7-5 defeat by Guildford Flames in the bronze medal match yesterday.
The Stars played their fellow semi-final losers after going down 6-0 to the Belfast Giants in Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Saturday.
Dundee head coach Omar Pacha gave British goaltender Brython Preece some game time and put him between the pipes, but the game started with a slow tempo before soon building into a lively game of end-to-end action.
The Flames took the lead as ex-Star Jordan Cownie cut through the Dundee defence before beating Preece with a backhanded shot into the top-left corner after six minutes.
Philippe Sanche drew the Stars level a few moments later as the Canadian winger scored the Tayside team’s first goal of the weekend.
Alexandre Ranger attempted a shot at goal that did not quite make it through, and Sanche was lurking on the edge of the goalmouth to quickly jab it past Kevin Lindskoug.
Paul Dixon’s men were not on level terms for long and quickly restored their lead as Kyle Locke turned home a Jake Bolton pass in the 14th minute.
The Surrey side still held on to their one-goal lead after the first period, but the Stars had been creating a lot of chances and were close to grabbing another equaliser.
The second period started off with Dundee getting the equaliser they had been pushing for and it came through Swedish sensation Sebastian Bengtsson, who beat the Flames keeper with a rising shot from out on the left wing.
It took Pacha’s men less than two minutes to tie the game, but they then found themselves on a penalty kill at the halfway mark as Gabriel Desjardins was punished for a tripping foul.
The Stars did survive being down a man for two minutes, but they conceded two quick-fire goals shortly after.
Guildford’s third goal was created through luck, as Preece made one save and sent the puck skywards.
It disappeared from sight and, with most of the players unaware of where it landed, Cownie reacted
quickest to get his side ahead again.
In fact the puck landed behind the Stars goal and just in front of Cownie, who cunningly banked his shot off the back of the Stars keeper and into the net.
Then, just 22 seconds later, Ian McNulty burst forward from the restart and carried the puck across goal, before taking it around Preece and firing home to make it 4-2 Flames.
Dundee had a late powerplay but failed to cut into the lead before the final intermission.
They were once again quick to find the net and, in
the 43rd minute, Charlie Combs found the top corner to make it 4-3.
Just five minutes later Connor Sills buried his shot from the slot to make it a tied game once more.
Stars then opened up their first lead of the game when Michael Poirier’s slapshot sneaked through the legs of Lindskoug and into the Flames net on 53 minutes.
A minute later, Levi Cable broke away and beat Preece with a quick shot on his glove side to make it even at 5-5.
Despite the quick comeback, Dundee looked like they would get ahead
again, but that chance was eliminated when Kyle Haas was punished for a hit the referees deemed charging and the English club took immediate advantage.
With less than two minutes to play, Brett Ferguson flung the puck past Preece from between the circles to give the Flames a late lead.
Pacha then gambled it all and took Preece off for an extra skater, but a missed pass by Dundee allowed Owen Griffiths to break away and tap the puck into an empty net and round off the scoring at 7-5.
Meanwhile, Mark Cooper
was the star of the show in Saturday’s semi clash with Dundee, with the Giants star bagging a hat-trick.
Tyler Soy, Lewis Hook and David Goodwin, who both converted on a powerplay, also scored as the Belfast side, whose dreams of a treble were ended when they lost the final 6-3 against Cardiff Devils – outclassed a battling Stars outfit.
Stars end the season as the fourth-placed team in the EIHL play-offs, but they can still look back at a lot of success throughout the campaign and be proud of their achievements.