The Dundee Stars used their powerplay to beat the Genting Casino Coventry Blaze by a score-line of 2-4 at Skydome Arena on Sunday.
With Alexander Kuqali returning to the line-up, assistant coach Zach Vinnell re-took his place on the bench alongside Kevin Moore.
The game started with high intensity, with both teams testing each other early. The Stars struck first at 12.32, with Alex Robert finding the back of the net, assisted by Kameron Kielly and Ben O’Connor.
Coventry Blaze responded at 17.01 when Man of the Match Mike Regush netted the equalizer, assisted by Kim Tallberg and Kuqali, sending the game into the first intermission at 1-1.
The game had a physical edge throughout, and a key turning point occurred at 25.35 when Grayson Constable was thrown out of the game for boarding.
On the resulting five-minute powerplay, Dundee re-took the lead on 27.31. Zachary Tsekos the scorer, assisted by Drydn Dow and Philippe Sanche.
After Chase Gresock was called for slashing, the Stars struck again on the man advantage through Ben O’Connor on 32.53 with Cole MacDonald providing the helper.
Coventry thought they had pulled one back through Regush again at 39.25, but a video review disallowed the goal for not crossing the line.
Dundee further strengthened their hold on the game at 47.17, with Tsekos scoring his second goal of the night, assisted by Spencer Naas, making it 1-4.
Gresock’s league leading 25th goal of the season on the powerplay put Blaze back to within two at 52.07, assisted by Jackson Cressey and the lively Regush.
Coventry pulled netminder Mat Robson with three minutes to go, and pushed hard for a third, but another comeback wasn’t to be as the Stars skated away with a 2-4 victory and valuable two points.
Photo credit: Scott Wiggins
