Stars stay in pole position for final playoff place

Photo: John Uwins

Dundee Stars kept their six-point gap on Manchester Storm chasing for a playoff place with an excellent 4-2 road win in Guildford over the Flames in front of 1,825 fans at the Spectrum.

"We wanted a response from yesterday, it's crunch time now" started Brendan Harms who scored two goals on the night. "We didn't play great in Cardiff but I thought the guys came in here and played a great game. We need wins and it's big to get those two points."

The game started at a fast pace with chances at both ends. Travis Brown received a penalty for illegal equipment, which Guildford managed successfully, after he picked up a Dundee stick and discarded it.

In the final five minutes of the opening period, Dundee scored. Phillippe Sanche's shot from the point took a deflection and creeped passed an out of position Eamon McAdam to put the Stars ahead. On the very next play, McAdam denied the Stars a second at Brett Gravelle broke through to keep it a one-goal game heading into the break.

Guildford tied the game with 45 seconds left in the period. While killing a James Shearer penalty, Jack Jacome dumped the puck and the on-rushing Daniel Catenacci picked it up and fired high into Jarrett Fiske's net.

"I didn't feel like we really had it from the get-go tonight unfortunately," said Flames goalie Eamon McAdam after the game. "It was a draining one for us in Sheffield last night, and to lose late in that game and the one before against Belfast was a bit demoralising. That's a hurdle we have to figure out how to get over in the next few weeks if we want to be in the race for a trophy this season."

Period two was a quieter affair and ended without scoring at either end. The Flames had the better of the chances, but neither side was necessarily deserving of a lead through 40 minutes.

"I thought we had a pretty good two periods," continued Harms. "We knew Guildford have a very good goalie in Eamon McAdam, so it was about getting pucks on net and trying to get hold of rebounds which we managed to get a couple of tonight."

27 seconds into period three, Brendan Harms got on the rebound of a Spencer Naas backhanded effort to put the Stars back ahead. Just under three minutes later, Zach Tsekos poke-checked Lewis Hook skating across his own slot and turned the puck past McAdam to put the Stars 3-1 ahead.

Ethan Strang put home a rebound from a Josh Waller shot at 46:54 to get the Flames back to within one, but a deflection by Harms on a Naas shot restored the visitors' two-goal advantage that they held to the final buzzer.

Concluded McAdam: "It's been a weird year with the injuries, but we have to focus now on the fact that we can still finish the season with a trophy."