TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 1 COVENTRY BLAZE 2 (OT)
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars picked up another point at home on Saturday night but were on the losing side of a 2-1 battle against Coventry Blaze.
By Kris Smith
The Stars made on change to their gameday roster as forward, Tommy Parrottino came back into the fold on the third line, in place of Jake Elmer and defenseman, Kris Inglis remained out through injury.
The game had a low tempo start as both teams took their time to feel each other out before moving their way forward and through the opening 10 minutes, Dundee would see most of the chances, with Anthony Rinaldi having two golden chances to open the scoring.
His first saw him find space on the edge of the crease but lift his shot over the crossbar and moments later, Jonathan McBean picked out Rinaldi again on the doorstep but this time his shot would be stopped by a sprawling Nolan Kent, at the last second.
At the other end, Alessio Luciani could have put the Blaze in front but he could not slip the puck across the line after dragging it around Stars keeper, Kevin Carr and the chance would be cleared away.
The visitors had two powerplay chances in the opening period but failed to cause the Dundee defence too much concern and heading to the second session, the game was still scoreless.
However, that would very quickly change as just 15 seconds after the restart, Brent Beaudoin fired the Stars in front by finishing off the drop pass from Anthony Rinaldi.
Marc LeFebvre’s men then dominated the play for the next few minutes and created many more chances to extend their lead but failed to make the Blaze pay for their defensive errors.
As Dundee continued to cut open their English opponents, at the other end, Carr had been solid whenever called into action but his hopes of a first clean sheet of the season were dashed by a powerplay goal for the Blaze.
After Sean Allen’s physical play caught the attention of the referees, he was given a minor penalty for interference and that put Coventry on the man advantage, where in the 37th minute, Kobe Roth tipped Kim Tallberg’s rising shot past the Dundee goalie.
In the third period, the Tayside team continued to pepper Kent and the Blaze goal with shots as they searched for another go-ahead-goal but Danny Stewart’s men kept clearing away loose pucks after the Canadian netminder continued to get in the way of every shot.
The Stars would outshoot Coventry 39-21 but failed to find that crucial second goal, even with a powerplay inside the final two minutes of the match and the meant both sides would secure a point as overtime was required for a third game in a row at the DIA.
The Blaze managed to kill off the remaining time on the penalty and once the teams were levelled up at three-on-three, they moved forward and found a winner.
Just 99 seconds into the extra period, Johnny Curran used his agility to keep the puck in Dundee’s end and he then squeezed a pass between the goal post and Carr as he drove towards the goal line, where the puck would be turned in by a Dundee stick.
The Stars have taken four points from their last three games, with all three contests going past regulation time and now they head out on the road, taking the long drive south to Surrey for their second road game against Guildford Flames this season.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #37 Kevin Carr
Coventry: #41 Johnny Curran
Goals
1st:
2nd:
1-0 Brent Beaudoin (Anthony Rinaldi, Drydn Dow) 20:15
1-1 Kobe Roth (Kim Tallberg, Brady Norrish) 36:35 PPG
3rd:
OT:
1-2 Johnny Curran (Alessio Luciani) 61:39
All images: Derek Black.
