By Kris Smith
The ninth place Stars come into the weekend hungry for points as they aim to add to their three points from seven games.
Last weekend, Dundee earned a hard-fought point on the road in Nottingham, as they were beaten 4-3 in overtime, before falling 5-1 to Coventry Blaze on Sunday.
On their first trip to Altrincham, the Stars suffered a heavy 6-2 defeat against Ryan Finnerty’s men and they currently occupy sixth place in the league standings, with seven points from eight matches.
On the scoresheet that night was Finlay Ulrick, Adam Brady (2), Curtis Hamilton, Liam Morgan and Cameron Critchlow for Manchester.
Whereas Spencer Dorowicz and Philippe Sanche provided the Stars only two goals, as they tried to recover after allowing the hosts an early 4-0 lead.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Stars Head Coach, Omar Pacha said: “It is a big weekend and one where we want to get our consistency back in, as we struggled with that last week.
“We have also struggled in certain areas and we have worked on those this week, and it was a hard week in terms of guys are healing and trying to get ready for the weekend.”
After a tough night in Manchester on their first trip to Altrincham, the Canadian coach is hoping his side can be more prepared this time around.
Pacha added: “Now they know the rink and how to play there, maybe we can use that as a positive but the most important thing is, we want to find our game back.
“We want that consistent game back, but also to be strong defensively and make sure we continue creating lots of chances.
“We also want to be stronger on special teams, because everybody knows we have struggled on the powerplay and that is something we want to be better at.”
Also Stars defenseman, Michael Poirier has preached the importance of everyone being prepared ahead of the team’s return to Manchester tonight.
He said: “Last time we went to Manchester, I do not quite think we showed up as a team.
“So, as a group, we have to make sure that from the first puck drop we are ready to play and ready to engage in battles, because in that arena, it is not easy.
“Omar has been preaching urgency a lot over the past couple of weeks and I think we have been inconsistent, but this weekend is a good chance for us to get back on the right path.”
The Canadian blueliner continued: “There have been a lot of ups and downs with our team.
“I feel like when we play as a team and when everyone is buying into what Omar is preaching with our systems, then we are able to play well against the big teams like Sheffield, Belfast and Nottingham and we are in the games.
“But also, there have been some games where we have let our guard down, such as Manchester and away in Fife.
“We did not show up and execute what works best for us, so I feel like we need to find a way to be more consistent because when we play consistently, we are a good hockey team who can win a lot of games this season.”
Face-off for tonight’s match in Manchester is at 7pm. Watch the game HERE!
