TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 0 SHEFFIELD STEELERS 5
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars suffered a disappointing defeat on home ice to the current Elite League leaders on Sunday night as they took on Sheffield Steelers.
By Kris Smith
The Stars had to play without three players as the injured Brent Beaudoin and Kris Inglis were joined by the Chris McKay as he served the first of his two-game suspension and the Steelers were just one player short of a full line-up as Scott Allen was a late scratch from their roster.
The first period was full of fast-paced, end-to-end action with both teams bearing down on net and if not for goalkeepers Kevin Carr and Sheffield’s Matt Greenfield it could have been a high-scoring opening 20 minutes.
The Steelers were putting a lot of pucks into the slot in front of Dundee’s net but had no one there to finish off their chances, whilst the Stars were hitting their opponents on the break with speed and working the puck from side to side.
Brendan Harms was left reeling after he had the chance to put the Stars in front but was denied by a spectacular diving save from Greenfield in the 10th minute and just as it seemed the opening session would end scoreless, the Yorkshire club struck.
Brett Neumann broke into the Dundee end in the 19th minute and dropped a pass back to Patrick Watling, who wasted no time in flinging the puck towards goal and it would beat Carr high and drop into the net via the underside of the crossbar.
In the second period, Aaron Fox’s side picked up where they left on and just 72 seconds after the restart, Dominic Cormier ripped a long-range effort into the top of the net to make it 2-0.
The Steelers then went on the first powerplay of the game as Mitchell Balmas was hit into the boards by Brendan Harms and had to leave the ice for treatment, but he would return a few moments later.
Dundee would be excellent on the penalty kill and just as it was about to expire, Stars defenseman, Sean Allen dropped Colton Saucerman into the boards with a big hit and the Sheffield defender took exception to it, slashing back at Allen.
The pair then dropped the gloves and went toe-to-toe, with Allen landing the most and better of the blows before taking his opponent down.
Despite the crowd getting a massive energy boost, the Steelers would kill any momentum with a third goal as Daniel Ciampini deflected a rising puck past Carr on 29 minutes.
Then four minutes later, Robert Dowd crashed towards the Dundee net to drive home Balmas’ pass for his 700th Elite League point, becoming the fourth ever player to reach the milestone.
In the third session, the Stars switched things up as Lucas Brine came into the net for Carr and got his first taste of league action but he would only be able to keep the English side out for over two minutes, when Dowd slid home his second.
The Stars were unable to break down the Steelers during the remainder of the match and the buzzer sounded to end a disappointing night for Marc LeFebvre’s men.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #44 Lucas Brine
Sheffield: #75 Robert Dowd
Goals
1st:
0-1 Patrick Watling (Brett Neumann, Kevin Tansey) 18:53
2nd:
0-2 Dominic Cormier (Daniel Ciampini, Josh Nicolls) 21:12
0-3 Daniel Ciampini (Niklas Nevalainen, Marc-Olivier Vallerand) 29:14
0-4 Robert Dowd (Mitchell Balmas) 33:57
3rd:
0-5 Robert Dowd (Unassisted) 42:15
All images: Derek Black.
