The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Stars’ hopes damaged by Blaze
ICE HOCKEY: Coventry win to take control of race for play-off berth
DUNDEE STARS 2 COVENTRY BLAZE 4
Stars failed to secure two important points last night as they were beaten at home by a Coventry Blaze side that took control of the race for the final Elite League play-off spot.
Dundee are now three points behind Blaze – who jumped above Manchester into eighth – and need to win their last three games to stay in the hunt.
The first scoring opportunity came to Dundee after four minutes as they broke three-on-one into the Coventry end but the Blaze players quickly recovered.
Stars still got a shot on target and would have taken the lead if not for Nicolai Bryhnisveen tying up Matt Bissonnette to prevent him from tapping in the loose rebound.
Kevin Morris was given the away side’s first chance as he intercepted a poor pass but Pontus Sjögren made a comfortable pad save.
The game remained scoreless as Coventry killed the penalty but the West Midlands club were straight back under pressure as Lukas Lundvald and Shawn Boutin fired heavy shots towards Matt Hackett in the Blaze goal.
Luckily for Danny Stewart’s men they both slipped just wide and first period ended scoreless.
There was an injury concern early in the second as Blaze’s Kevin Noble appeared to have a painful leg injury after blocking a shot.
Dundee’s Charles Corcoran went close to opening the scoring after a great solo move, but was denied by Hackett.
A few minutes later the American had a strong case for a penalty shot as he used his speed to get past Alex Nikiforuk but the Canadian tripped the Stars forward to earn a two-minute minor penalty.
Again Dundee could not capitalise on the powerplay and the visitors began to take a hold of the game. Despite Jordan Cownie having a big chance to give Stars the lead, the Blaze went up the other end to score as Tim Crowder turned Bryhnisveen’s shot past Sjögren in the 33rd minute.
However, Omar Pacha’s men were quick to respond as Matt Bissonnette tapped in the rebound of Dryden Dow’s shot after 35 minutes.
Dundee pushed for the lead, but it was their visitors that went back in front. Venus took a pass in front of the Stars’ net, spun and released a quick shot that flew past Sjögren in the 38th minute.
With 20 minutes to save their playoff hopes, Stars did not start the third period as they would have wanted as Ben Lake finished off Nikiforuk’s cutback in the 50th minute to make it 3-1.
Brian Hart raised home hopes with less than five minutes left as he slid a Matt Marquardt pass under Hackett.
The home team came close again but Coventry held on and with 10 seconds on the clock, Kevin Morris secured the win with an empty net goal.