By Kris Smith
The Stars have met the Panthers twice already this season but they were edged out 2-1 in overtime on their last visit to the Motorpoint Arena and when Nottingham came to Dundee, they skated to a 7-2 victory.
Jonathan Paredes side have won one of their two recent games, losing 4-2 on home ice to Belfast Giants last weekend and then responding with a 4-2 victory of their own in Cardiff against the Devils, last night.
Alexander Lunsjo’s brace put the Panthers ahead in South Wales before Joey Martin got the home team on the board but Otto Nieminen and Didrik Henbrant then bagged two more for Nottingham to give them a 4-1 lead, and Riley Brant would net a late consolation goal for Cardiff.
Meanwhile, yesterday saw the Stars fall 3-0 behind to Sheffield Steelers in the first period as Cole Shudra, Patrick Watling and Brett Neumann all capitalised on their chances.
Colton Saucerman’s slice of luck on a blocked shot then put the Steelers 4-0 up and in the third period, Dundee would make their late push as Spencer Naas converted his penalty shot after being fouled by goaltender, Matt Greenfield.
Mitchell Balmas then settled the Steelers nerves as he restored the four-goal cushion but two quick goals from Tommy Parrottino and Ryan Valentini made it a two-goal game with just less than nine minutes to play.
Shudra would score again to kill Dundee’s momentum but Brendan Harms scored on the game’s only powerplay within the final two minutes to set up some more late drama.
However, the Aaron Fox’s men held on to claim the 6-4 victory and that moved two points clear at the top of the table, but also five ahead of the Stars who dropped to fifth.
Reflecting on last night’s match, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “I guess it was a morale victory as we did not quit but we definitely need to have a better start against a team like that.
“They overwhelmed us at the start and for the first 35 minutes of the game they were in control, yet we had our chances but they made us pay for a lot of critical mistakes, odd man rushes and diving after pucks – just stuff we cannot do against quality opposition.
“You cannot do that against any team but especially one like that who is clinical around the net.”
Discussing tonight’s trip to Nottingham, LeFebvre continued: “We just have to be prepared to play and we have to have a better start, we cannot get ourselves down 3-0 or 4-0 and expect to climb out of holes every game.
“At this time last week, we were in second place, this is how quickly things turn in this league but we need a result in Nottingham to keep up with the pace of that pack.
“Everybody is beating everybody when you look at the results and it is a fun to be a part of the league when it is like that, but we need to get those two points for ourselves.”
Face-off for tonight’s game in Nottingham is at 4pm.
All images: Panthers Images.
