By Luke McGinnis
Last weekend, a short-benched Stars squad couldn’t overcome the Belfast Giants in a 4-1 home loss on Saturday, before finishing the weekend with an 8-1 defeat on the road to the Guildford Flames.
“Our 5v5 play wasn’t very good, and obviously our penalty kill wasn’t very good either,” said head coach Marc LeFebvre reflecting on the weekend. “We just didn’t show up to play Sunday. I thought the first two periods against Belfast were pretty decent and we gave ourselves a chance, then the third period wasn’t very good, and it just bled into the weekend.”
Dundee and Nottingham have already met three times this season, with the Panthers coming out on top in all three encounters.
The first saw Nottingham knock off the Stars in Dundee, with former Stars netminder Kevin Carr backstopping his side to a 5-2 victory. Less than twenty-four hours later, the teams met again at the Motorpoint Arena, where the Panthers survived a late Dundee comeback to claim a second win in the season series. The most recent clash came less than two weeks ago, with Nottingham once again edging the Stars — this time 4-3 at the Dundee Ice Arena.
“We’re against the two best teams in the league, so this weekend is a good challenge for us,” LeFebvre added. “We can’t be sitting ducks and just let them take it to us — we’ve got to protect home ice.”
Otto Nieminen — who spent the previous two seasons with the Panthers — has scored twice against Nottingham this year, as has Hampus Olsson. Bradley Schoonbaert, Spencer Naas, Griffin Luce, and Morten Jürgens have also found the back of the net in the season series.
“There’s a little bit of extra effort and excitement going against your former team,” said Nieminen. “It might just be a coincidence that I scored twice against them, but I’m hoping that continues this weekend.”
Dundee and Sheffield have met once so far this season, with the Steelers claiming a 6-1 victory at the Utilita Arena. Jonathan McBean scored the lone Stars goal, while Joona Huttula, Kevin Tansey, Ryan Tait, Jordon Southorn, and Evan Jasper all found the back of the net for Sheffield.
Last season, the sides met six times, with the Steelers taking five wins. Drydn Dow led the Stars in scoring during those matchups, recording six points and proving to be a constant thorn in Sheffield’s side.
Aaron Fox’s men have also claimed at least a point in each of their last seven outings — a streak they will be looking to extend on Sunday night.
“It comes down to work ethic at the end of the day. If you don’t want to work, then you see what happens with the results,” concluded LeFebvre. “There’s lots of hockey still to be played — it can’t all be doom and gloom. We’ve got to come in with the right mindset and get this turned around.”
Defenseman Kris Inglis remains week-to-week with an upper-body, as does goaltender Jarrett Fiske, who picked up a lower-body injury against the Flames. Jackson DeSouza was back skating with the team this week, and will be a game time decision on Saturday.
