The Flyers made the short trip across the Tay for their second league encounter of the season with the hometown Stars. The visitors lined up exactly as they did in their home win the previous evening against the Flames with Josh Winquist still sidelined through injury and Anton Karlsson a scratch. The Stars who were looking for their first regulation win of the season against their rivals had Johnny Curran in their line up for his home debut. They were without Matthew Boudens and Jayden Baxter and Jarrett Fiske started in net ahead of Emil Kruse.
17 seconds into the game and Kameron Kielly had the first shot of the game from the circles but Owen made a routine save. Still within the opening 60 seconds Owen had a fantastic reaction save to get a pad on a shot from Spencer Naas at the side of the goal. The Stars continued to dominate offensively and Owen faced a further 7 shots in the opening two minutes. Fiske saw his first action in the 3rd minute as he blocked a shot from Johan Porsberger from the high slot and then got a pad out to stop the rebound follow up from Keaton Jameson. Curran had a good look in the 4th minute as he was parked in the slot but Owen held his shot. Andrew McLean from the right circle in the 6th minute saw his shot shrugged off by Fiske and the Stars goalie a couple of minute later fought off a shot by Ben Brown as the Stars defence were happy to scramble the puck to safety. In the 9th minute Owen flashed the leather to snap the glove on a Naas shot. The visitors went on the first powerplay of the night in the 11th minute as Kielly was called for delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass. The Stars had a short handed bid with Morten Jurgens muscling his way to the Flyers net but he couldn’t get a short away and the home side went on to complete a comfortable kill. The opener came at 13:36 when Curran worked the puck down the left wing and he cut inside to the slot to freeze Owen before passing to below the circles to Kielly who had slam dunk into a wide open net. Justin Ducharme set up Jonas Emmerdahl in the slot in the 16th minute but Fiske got enough on the puck to keep it out then tracked the rebound to hold the follow up shot by Emmedahl. Fiske made a good blocker save on a shot from the blueline from McLean and he followed that up to get a pad on the rebound . Emmerdahl was then called for a slash to put the Stars on their first powerplay. The home side made it count as they moved the puck around well and when it landed on the stick of Naas in the left circle he sniped the top corner high blocker side on Owen. With 30 seconds of the period remaining Despres was penalised for a trip along the boards on Benjamin Almquist. The Flyers scrambled the puck away from their net to get to the interval without any further damage.
Owen held a shot from Keanu Yamamoto as the Flyers started the second period killing the remainder of the Stars powerplay. In the 23rd minute Ethan Somoza tried to go short side with a tip but Fiske was tight to his post. A minute later and Otto Nieminen drove the net but Owen stood strong. Jeremy Masella from a sharp angle in the 27th minute tried to bank the puck in off Fiske but the puck got stuck in the Stars goalies equipment. A giveaway in the 29th minute in the Flyers zone allowed the Stars to find Almquist with the puck but he was absolutely stoned by Owen at the edge of his crease and the Flyers goalie competed the play when he got over to hold on to a shot by Bradley Schoonbaert. Fiske made a pad save on a Ducharme shot in the 30th minute as the Flyers were then called for too many men to send the Stars back on the powerplay. The Flyers were a threat on shorthanded chances as Masella was up on the rush and Fiske flat out robbed him as he knocked a loose puck away on the ice with his glove with the Flyers defenseman ready to pounce. The Stars took advantage of that let off as they stretched their lead on the man advantage at 30:57 when Schoonbaert fed the puck into the slot and Naas fired low into the bottom corner of the net on the glove side of Owen. Garet Hunt had a shot in the 33rd minute from the slot that was blocked and a minute later he was denied by a blocker save by Fiske. The Stars keeper came up with a big shoulder save on a heavy shot by Mason Alderson in the 35th minute. In the 37th minute Hunt checked Craig Garrigan along the boards as the Stars man was in a low position. A scrum ensued with Craig Moore receiving a minor penalty for cross checking and Milan Lucic a two minute roughing minor which were offsetting but after a vide review Hunt was assessed a 5 plus game for checking to the head as the Stars went on the powerplay again. They home side extended their lead at 38:11 as a big shot from the point by Justin Bean was blocked by Owen but Nieminen was on hand to poke home the loose puck. Owen came up with a full length leg extension save to deny Schoonbaert and with 20 seconds remaining Griffin Luce missed a gaping net.
The Flyers still had 1:40 of the major penalty to kill to start the third period and they did so thanks to a highlight reel pad save by Owen to deny Kielly from below the circles. In the 43rd minute Kris Inglis made a blindside hit in neutral ice on Ethan Somoza who was not in possession of the puck, Jameson threw the gloves off as did Inglis as they both went at each other. The outcome a 5 minute fighting major for Inglis with Jameson being assessed an instigator and a game misconduct yet nothing for the original hit by the Stars man. The Stars went on the powerplay but it was the Flyers who almost found the net with Masella again proving an offensive threat as he set up a chance for Mason Alderson who tipped just wide of the net. The Flyers pulled a goal back at 47:32 when Ducharme set up McLean who went to the net and beat Fiske high on the stick side. The Flyers went close again in the 49th minute as an Emmerdahl shot got through Fiske and lay in the crease before the Stars scrambled it clear. Any small hopes of a Flyers comeback were dashed as the Stars went nap at 51:25 when Jackson Desouza retrieved the puck in the corner and flashed it into the slot where Almquist on the edge of the crease tipped it past Owen. In the 55th minute Jurgens had Owen down and out on the ice but backhanded the puck wide of the net. Masella with a shot from the circles in the 57th minute created a rebound from Fiske but the puck wouldn’t fall for Logan Neilson. The Stars were penalised moments later as Nieminen went to the box on an interference call on a play in the corner behind the Flyers net. It took the Flyers all of 8 seconds to strike as Ducharme was able to fire his own rebound off Fiske into the roof of the net. The game ended with two separate fights in the final minute as first Masella and Desouza dropped the gloves then Jurgens and Lucic started throwing with all combatants receiving five minute fighting majors.
Pic Credits – Dundee Stars
Fife Flyers are next at home on Sunday 22nd February when they entertain the Glasgow Clan – tickets can be bought online here: Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.
