By Luke McGinnis
Scott Dutertre’s men are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Belfast Giants last night in their Challenge Cup opener.
“I thought early on we were chasing, and I think we were probably overestimating Belfast,” began Dutertre. “They’re a really good hockey team, they move the puck really well, but we’ve talked about it from day one, we need to be a working-class team. If we’re not doing that, then we’re going to be in one.”
Keaton Jameson scored the lone goal for the Stars, while Vladislav Pestov made 40 saves and posted a .909 save percentage.
“At times I thought we did a really good job of getting the puck up the wall and getting it to the net. We’ve got to keep the game simple. Simple isn’t sexy, but that’s what’s going to win us hockey games,” Dutertre continued.
The Fife Flyers fell 4-3 to the Glasgow Clan in a shootout last night, picking up their first point of the Challenge Cup campaign.
Xander Lamppa had a three-point night, including a late equaliser, while Cameron Hough and Mika Partanen also found the back of the net.
Dominik Groh was in net for the Kirkcaldy club, posting a .923 save percentage with 36 saves.
Tim Wallace’s side enjoyed an undefeated preseason, picking up victories over the Kyiv Capitals and Hull Seahawks, alongside a victory over Dundee last Sunday.
Michael Drábek scored twice, while Reece Kelly, Garet Hunt, Joona Vainio, Kyle Watson and Mike Petizian also scored in a 7-2 win over the Stars.
“I don’t want to lose hockey games, but it was a good wake-up call that they have to compete every night,” reflected Dutertre.
“Fife came out and played really hard, they were just getting pucks up the ice and to the net, and I thought at times some of our younger guys were deer in the headlights, but that’s how you learn. Hopefully now we know what the measuring stick is. We know it’s our second game of the weekend, but we have to do those simple things to be successful.”
Faceoff is scheduled for 5p.m at the Dundee Ice Arena.
