PRESEASON: TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 4 FIFE FLYERS 2
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars got their preseason off to a winning start with a 4-2 victory on home ice over their biggest rivals, Fife Flyers on Saturday night.
By Kris Smith
The first period would be a scoreless affair but the Stars were certainly the closer of the two teams to breaking the deadlock as new signings, Keanu Yamamoto and Brett Gravelle showed their chemistry from playing together during the past two seasons as they combined for a pair of good chances with Gravelle’s efforts striking the post and slipping just wide of the Fife net.
There would also be an early sighting of the Dundee powerplay unit as Flyers defenseman, Patrick Kyte boarded Zach Tsekos in the eighth minute and despite numerous attempts on his goal, Shane Owen had kept the Flyers level.
In the second period, Tom Coolen’s men then got their turn on the powerplay as the home team were punished for having too-many men on the ice but the Flyers failed to convert on the man advantage and on a second a few minutes later.
Dundee would then open the scoring in the 27th minute as Cole MacDonald’s stretch pass played Domenic Alberga in on a breakaway and he slotted past Owen to put his side in front.
At the halfway-mark, Fife subbed in goaltender, Brython Preece for his first game at the DIA since playing for the Stars two seasons ago and he would be put under pressure swiftly.
With the Stars closing in on a second, the Flyers got some relief as they went back on the powerplay after Xavier Pouliot’s heavy hit on Austin Farley put him in the box for a charging foul and the Kirkcaldy club would finally cash in.
After making two stops, Stars keeper Jarrett Fiske was unable to prevent Drake Pilon from lifting a loose rebound up into the top left corner in the 39th minute and that sent the two teams into the final break still on level terms.
Marc LeFebvre’s side then came out firing in the final stanza as Alex Tonge ripped home Brendan Harms’ pass from behind the net to restore Dundee’s lead on 44 minutes and then six minutes later, Harms added his own name to the scoresheet by deflecting the puck past Preece.
In the 55th minute, Brett Gravelle extended the lead to 4-1 as his long-range effort could not be held by Preece and the keeper spilt it across the line but the Flyers would keep the pressure on as Austin Farley pulled one back with less than four-minutes to play.
The Stars held on to take the 4-2 victory and showed a lot of positive signs throughout the match, even whilst missing a few bodies but there were encouraging signs for LeFebvre.
He said: “There were lots of positives and lots of things to work on and that we can build on.
“The morale was really good and we sent the fans to happy, it was good for the guys to get that first victory at home and even though it is preseason you still want to win so we can only build from here.”
The Stars and the Flyers do it all again tomorrow as they meet in Kirkcaldy at 5:15pm with Fife hungry for redemption in front of their fans.
Dundee Scratches: #1 Jaglar (Two-Way), #10 Kielly (Travelling), #36 Sabol (Travelling), #77 Saunders (Two-Way) & #83 O’Connor (International Duty).
Fife Scratches: #4 Page, #41 Curran & #62 Latal.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #33 Jarrett Fiske
Fife: #77 Drake Pilon
Goals
1st:
2nd:
1-0 Domenic Alberga (Cole MacDonald, Jake Elmer) 26:54
1-1 Drake Pilon (Daniel Krenzelok, Artur Gatiyatov ) 38:34 PPG
3rd:
2-1 Alex Tonge (Brendan Harms, Zach Tsekos) 44:12
3-1 Brendan Harms (Zach Tsekos, Alex Tonge) 50:01
4-1 Brett Gravelle (Kris Inglis) 54:13
4-2 Austin Farley (Tyler Heidt, Lucas Chiodo) 56:06
All images: Derek Black.
