Dundee Stars came back from three goals down, surrendered a late lead, but benefited from an own goal to secure an overtime win in Coventry on Friday night.
“I thought we didn’t get off to the start we wanted, but we showed resilience to fight back in the second, keep pushing in the third, and finally got the job done in overtime,” explained Stars’ Justin Bean. “I think it speaks volumes about our team’s resilience.”
Just over a minute into play, Elijah Barriga saw his shot bounce off the crossbar. Both netminders were kept busy through the first half of the period, denying either side from opening the scoring, until Kim Tallberg broke through the Dundee defence and fired over Emil Kruse’s shoulder.
With just 30 seconds left in the period, William Boysen received a lovely pass from Barriga near the goal line and guided the puck in behind Kruse to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
“We started pretty good and then let them back into the game,” conceded Blaze’s Mack Stewart, who later tied the game to earn the hosts a point. “We needed to be better at closing out games, but overall I thought we played alright.”
Kruse started the second period with a huge double save after the Blaze were first to a rebound. Adam Robbins then hit both posts from a tight angle. Minutes later, a David Clements slapshot from the blue line took a deflection, but Kruse stood tall between the pipes.
Dundee enjoyed a strong spell in the Blaze zone but could not find a way past Mat Robson. With just over eight minutes remaining in the period, Otto Nieminen was called for hooking. Just over a minute into the power play, Jere Vertanen fired a one-timer from the blue line to extend Coventry’s lead to 3-0.
“We had to have belief that if we stuck to our systems and competed the way we wanted to, anything could happen,” said Bean of the mood on the bench at three goals down.
In a little over a four-minute stretch, Dundee pulled themselves back into the game with two unanswered goals. Bradley Schoonbaert got the Stars on the board at 34:18, just nine seconds after Nieminen had fired wide of an open back door. Matthew Boudens then followed up on a rebound, finishing with Robson out of position to further close the gap.
“I think we just gave them momentum,” added Stewart. “The first half of the game we were the better team, we gave them nothing, but we let them back into it. We let them have chances and they took them.”
Just over 11 minutes into the third period, a Drydn Dow shot on net created a scramble in front of Robson, resulting in Nieminen poking the puck over the line to tie the game.
With 7:55 to play, an excellent pass from below the goal line to Kameron Kielly in the slot set up the Stars for the go-ahead goal.
The Blaze needed a response, and they got it with 5:26 to play thanks to an excellent tip from Mack Stewart to level the game.
Both teams earned a point as the game headed to overtime. After several Blaze chances, the Stars broke the other way and saw Justin Bean’s pass into the slot deflect into the net off Grant Mismash’s stick, sealing the win for Dundee.
“It’s tight at the bottom of the table. We’re trying to climb our way out of there, so every time we can get two points it’s huge, especially on the road,” concluded Bean.
Photo: Scott Wiggins
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