TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 7 FIFE FLYERS 0
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars thrashed their biggest rivals Fife Flyers 7-0 in last night’s Tayside Derby as the home team took the lead in the first minute and never looked back in their Challenge Cup Group B match.
By Kris Smith
The Stars got off to a quick start as just 82 seconds into the game a beautiful passing move put them ahead as they intercepted a pass out from the Fife defence and Keanu Yamamoto would send the puck out wide for Domenic Alberga.
The Canadian then squared it back across goal for Alex Tonge to tap in and the tic-tac-toe passing move had taken Flyers goalie, Shane Owen right out of the game and the net.
Owen’s night would not be an easy one and he was kept busy with wave after wave of attack from Dundee but he did well to deny efforts from Jake Elmer, Brendan Harms and Brett Gravelle.
The visitors would eventually find their way forward in some slow-moving counter-attacks but Stars keeper, Richard Sabol pulled off some fantastic saves to keep out the number of shots coming from the back post as the Flyers continued to switch the play across the ice.
Dundee would double their lead on 13 minutes as Gravelle tipped Drydn Dow’s effort out of mid-air and past Owen and they took their 2-0 lead into the second period, where they continued to put their bitter rivals under pressure right from the restart.
Marc LeFebvre’s men continued to make their dominance count as Yamamoto cut a pass back for defenseman, Cole MacDonald to skate onto and bury past Owen inside 27 minutes.
Then less than two minutes after the restart, Ben O’Connor became the second Dundee blueliner to find the back of the net as he buried Tonge’s pass home from the slot and the game then took a feisty turn as some fierce net battles began to boil over.
Harms would take two minors for roughing in the middle period after getting into it with different Flyers on two occasions but the second time saw Owen get involved and take a penalty of his own for cross-checking.
The Stars would be unable to cash in on their man advantages but did find a fifth goal before the end of the second session as Gravelle made it a brace for himself on 34 minutes with a quick finish from between the circles.
In the third period, Alberga would then switch roles from provider to finisher as he impressed the crowd at the DIA with a first-time slapshot that blasted into the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar in the 46th minute to make it 6-0.
Then inside 55 minutes, Stars captain Dow played Alberga in behind the Fife defence and the Canadian made no mistake shooting straight past Owen to round the scoring off at 7-0 and give Dundee a much-needed big win to keep their morale high as they return to league action tomorrow night with a road game against Nottingham Panthers.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #8 Domenic Alberga
Fife: #62 Martin Latal
Goals
1st:
1-0 Alex Tonge (Domenic Alberga, Keanu Yamamoto) 01:22
2-0 Brett Gravelle (Drydn Dow, Kameron Kielly) 13:31
2nd:
3-0 Cole MacDonald (Keanu Yamamoto, Domenic Alberga) 26:04
4-0 Ben O’Connor (Alex Tonge, Domenic Alberga) 28:02
5-0 Brett Gravelle (Kameron Kielly, Cole MacDonald) 34:41
3rd:
6-0 Domenic Alberga (Keanu Yamamoto, Kyle Pouncy) 45:52
7-0 Domenic Alberga (Drydn Dow, Kyle Pouncy) 54:05
All Images: Derek Black.
