By Kris Smith
The Stars lost out to the Devils just 11 days ago as they skated to a 5-2 victory in Scotland in what was the first meeting between the two teams this season.
After a scoreless first period, the Devils would capitalise on their chances in the second and ended up taking a 4-0 lead, as Dundee conceded three more times in four minutes.
Cole Sanford (2), Jamie Arniel, and Brandon Alderson all found the net for Cardiff, but in the third period, Ryan Valentini would get the Stars on the board and the potential for a comeback was on.
However, Marcus Crawford would score into an empty Dundee net to restore the Devils four-goal cushion, before Brendan Harms netted a consolation goal on the powerplay.
The Tayside team’s loss to the Devils came during a three-game losing streak which was snapped last Sunday, as they came back from a goal down twice to beat Nottingham Panthers in a penalty shootout.
The Stars were in Nottingham and fell behind in the opening minutes before Spencer Naas tied the game up before the first break and in the second period, Carter Johnson would give Dundee the lead.
Although, the Panthers would soon equalise and regain the lead before Jake Elmer tied the game at 3-3 in the final minute of the middle stanza.
No winner would be found in the third or in overtime and the game was decided by penalty shots, as Brendan Harms scored on both his attempts to firstly keep the Stars alive in the shootout and then to win the extra point in sudden death.
Meanwhile, the Devils won on their last outing as they met Glasgow Clan in Scotland on Wednesday night and took a 4-3 lead in first leg of the Challenge Cup Quarter-Final.
The Clan had a 3-1 advantage after the first period but Pete Russell’s men would fight back to steal a one-goal lead before the second leg in Wales, with Alderson and Trevor Cox both scoring braces.
Discussing his side’s chance at revenge in their only match of the weekend, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We are going into that game to win.
“We know they are a good team; they have a lot of depth from top to bottom but so do we and we are looking forward to the challenge.
“We need to have a better start, lately we have been getting down in games early and we have to figure that out and stop having to chase games.
“Obviously, we have had some good bouts of play here recently for the most part, but we have to carry that on for 60 minutes, it is a cliché but against any team in this league, you cannot put yourself in a hole and expect to climb out every time and comeback.
“Our attitude is that we have to just keep playing, because you never know what will happen but it is imperative that we have a better start because they are a good hockey team.”
Stars goaltender, Kevin Carr also shared how the team’s morale was boosted by the win in Nottingham and that they feel they owe Cardiff after the last match.
He said: “We are excited, we had a good road game against Nottingham which was good for morale too and we are looking forward to Cardiff coming in here.
“We are just going to focus on what we do best, play them hard and it is nice that we play them again so soon after the last game, we owe them a game.”
He continued: “It is a game of mistakes; they are pretty offensive but so are we.
“We can play with them and are just as good as they are and we showed that in the last bit of the match when we picked it up and scored some quick goals, so we are excited to play them again.
“Minimising our turnovers and staying out the box is key, like I said they are a very offensive team, so if we can clog up the middle and block some shots then that is going to give us the best chance to win.”
Face-off for tonight’s game is at 7pm and you can buy your tickets HERE.
All images: Derek Black.
