By Kris Smith
The Stars sit ninth in the Elite League standings and face a Devils side who are reeling from a 9-3 thrashing last Sunday, at the hands of Belfast Giants, but a win tonight could get the Stars momentum rolling once again.
Cardiff still remain fourth in the league and need a bounce-back performance but will have to endure the long drive north to Dundee for their first match against the Stars this season.
Last weekend saw the Stars beaten 5-1 at home by Coventry Blaze before losing 4-2 away to Guildford Flames, despite a mostly dominant performance as the Tayside team were on top for almost 55 minutes of the match.
Philippe Sanche, Toms Rutkis and Elijiah Barriga all found the net last weekend and the goals look to be coming more steadily each week as the team progresses both on the ice and with injuries, as almost all injured players are nearing full fitness again.
New signing Chris Lijdsman will not make his debut tonight as he still awaits his international clearance but the Stars are expected to have the rest of the main squad available.
Stars Head Coach, Jeff Mason discussed the importance of the match and the chance to snap their losing run on home ice.
“We need to improve our performances at home and there is no better time than Saturday to start that.
“Cardiff are a good team, they have skill, speed and quality depth across the line-up but that said, we need to focus on our game and what makes us successful.
“I thought we did a lot of really good things in Guildford and we need to carry them over to and obviously it is important for us to get off to a good start and try to play from the front, and try to get to Cardiff’s goalies early.
“They gave up nine goals in the last game, so we want to get on them early and keep pushing.
Speaking more about how the Stars can try and capitalise on the Devils recent heavy defeat, Mason continued: “It starts with us, we have to get more pucks on net and create more second and third chances, we did a good job of that in Guildford
“We just need to find a way to get more of them in the back of the net and once we start gaining a bit of confidence, then pucks will start finding the back of the net more regularly.”
Defenseman, Drydn Dow has been a Star for four years and knows just what to expect from the Devils side, but also what it takes to overcome the Welsh club.
He added: “We have experienced those long bus rides ourselves quite a bit already this season, so we know what it is like coming off that bus and we have to jump on them early and take advantage of any early mistakes.
“We need to be better on home ice and play better for our fans, so we are excited for the opportunity this weekend against Cardiff to get back to playing our way.
“We felt we played better in that Guildford game than we have recently, so it is important to build off of that and keep progressing, because the goals will come eventually.
“We are a bit snake-bitten right now but it is coming and once we get going, it will be like a weight off our backs and it just takes one win to get you going.
“Obviously, losing is not fun and nobody wants to lose, but it is a game of momentum, so once we get one it gets the whole thing rolling.”
Face-off for tonight home game is at 7pm. Buy your tickets NOW!
Or watch the webcast from home HERE!
