By Luke McGinnis
Last weekend, Marc LeFebvre’s squad split the weekend, first securing a 5-4 road win against the Coventry Blaze, before narrowly falling to the reigning EIHL Playoff Champions, the Nottingham Panthers, 3-4 on home ice.
Otto Nieminen scored in both games, while Matt Berry and Hampus Olsson each recorded a three point weekend. Jonathan McBean, Ben Almquist and Morten Jurgens also found the back of the net, with Jurgens shifting to defense due to injuries on the Stars’ blueline.
Speaking on the transition, Jürgens said “Overall, it was fine. Definitely some things to work on, but the other defenseman and Marc [LeFebvre] tried to help me through it.”
Dundee and Belfast have already faced off four times this season — all in Challenge Cup action — with the Stars winning three of the four meetings.
Their first clash came on opening night in Belfast, where Dundee stunned the reigning EIHL champions with a 7-4 victory. The following weekend, the Stars repeated the feat at home with a 5-2 win. A few weeks later, Dundee claimed a 5-4 shootout triumph at the Dundee Ice Arena, before the Giants responded by taking the most recent matchup 5-3.
Ahead of the matchup, LeFebvre commented, “I’m always confident no matter who we’re playing — I believe in this group wholeheartedly. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, but we know Belfast, they’re defending champions for a reason with a lot of returning guys from last year.”
Matt Berry leads the Stars offensively against the Giants this season with nine points, followed closely by captain Drydn Dow with seven. Spencer Naas, Hampus Olsson, and Ben Almquist are tied for the team lead in goals against Belfast, each with three.
Jordan Kawaguchi leads all scorers in the season series with five goals, while Mike Lee and Nicolas Guay have both posted seven points, followed by J.J. Piccinich six.
“We know they’re a good team, so we have to bring our A-game. We’ve had some success against them which is good for the confidence, but we need to be ready to go from the puck drop,” added Dow.
The Stars and Flames were evenly matched last season, each taking three victories from their six encounters. Keanu Yamamoto and Kameron Kielly both tallied two goals and two assists, Spencer Naas added four assists, while Drydn Dow and Jonathan McBean also contributed three points apiece. Ethan Strang and Josh Waller led the way for the Flames with six points each, while Matt Alvaro topped all players with four goals.
“It’s important that we get off to a good start and play our game,” emphasised Dow. “When we’re at our best, I feel we can beat any team in the league.”
Both teams have faced off once so far this season, with Dundee picking up a commanding 5-2 win on home ice over the Surrey side. Keanu Yamamoto registered three points in that encounter, with Matt Berry, Matt Boudens, Otto Nieminen and Morten Jürgens also getting on the scoresheet.
Since then, Guildford have struggled in league play, losing five of their last six games while battling injury trouble — something the Stars will look to capitalise on.
“We’ve had some success the last couple of years in that building, but they’re always a good challenge,” added LeFebvre on travelling to Guildford. “They skate and move the puck well, come up with a lot of speed through the neutral zone so we’ve got to find a way to nullify that.”
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