By Kris Smith
The Stars host the Blaze tonight and Kevin Moore’s team arrive on Tayside in red hot form as they started their league campaign with five straight wins before finally suffering defeat last Sunday against the Giants.
Belfast were 5-2 winners in the SkyDome Arena as Chase Gresock and Morten Jurgens pulled two goals back for the Blaze after they were 3-0 down at home in the second period but Mat Robson would give up two more goas to the Northern Irish club in the third session.
Coventry then responded with 5-3 road win over Cardiff Devils on Wednesday evening in the Challenge Cup, with Robson making 37 saves, whilst Kim Tallberg (2), Nick Seitz, Brandon Alderson and Gresock were all on the scoresheet.
Meanwhile, the Stars have completed back-to-back four-point weekends, winning four of their last five outings as they defeated Fife Flyers twice in the cup and Nottingham Panthers in a pair of league fixtures, with a mid-week defeat to Sheffield Steelers splitting their unbeaten weekends.
The Taysiders were 2-1 victors over Nottingham on Saturday with Zach Tsekos and Drydn Dow providing the goals and Richard Sabol backstopping them to the win, before Jarrett Fiske then stepped in between the pipes and helped Dundee to a 7-2 away win in the Tayside Derby.
Jonathan McBean (2), Alex Tonge, Jake Elmer, Zach Tsekos (2) and Brett Gravelle all scored past Shane Owen in the Fife goal and that kept the Stars alive in their quest to qualify for the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup, with both of their remaining games a must-win.
Tonight’s opponents are currently four points ahead of Dundee in seventh as they sit on six points from seven matches, while the Blaze currently occupy third and have won 10 from their opening six games but this will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre has placed the full focus on their league clash with Coventry, saying: “From doing my research it is clear to see that they work extremely hard and they are one of the, if not the most hard-working team in the league right now.
“They do not give up and they have come from behind in several games this year, so we know that we will have to play a full 60 against them.
“Special teams will be key, the two best powerplays in the league will be going at it, so discipline is key and we need to stay out of the box but we also have the number one penalty kill in the league right now, so our special teams have done their job so far this season in terms of league play.
“We know this will be a big challenge for us but we just have to put a full 60 minutes together, play simple hockey and we are looking forward to it.”
Face-off for tonight’s home game against Coventry is at 7pm.
All images: Derek Black.
