As we continue to operate under government restrictions on attendance, you can exclusively watch the game LIVE from home HERE!
By Kris Smith
The Blaze come to Dundee in mixed form after winning two of their four games in 2022 and in their last match, they completed the comeback to prevail 4-3 over Guildford Flames via overtime.
Coventry’s Janne Kivilahti, John Curran, Luke Ferrara and Evan Bloodoff were all on the scoresheet against Guildford and the last time the Stars met the West Midlands club, they were 5-1 losers at the SkyDome Arena.
Ryan Penny (2), Dane Gibson, Janne Laakkonen and Ferrara fired Danny Stewart’s men well ahead of the Stars, as Charlie Combs netted Dundee’s only goal.
However, the Scottish outfit will be hungry to bounce back following Wednesday’s devastating 6-1 defeat to Cardiff Devils that saw the Stars knocked out of the Challenge Cup.
Only one point separates the Blaze and the Stars in the Elite League table, as the English club occupy seventh place and Dundee sit in ninth.
Looking ahead to a challenging weekend, Stars Head Coach, Omar Pacha said: “In the league, we are coming out of last week with two wins out of three at home.
“So, we are in a position where it is extremely tight from fourth down to 10th and we want to put ourselves in a position to climb up the table.
“We also have games in hand on teams in front of us, so these home games this weekend are really massive.”
Explaining his approach to tonight’s game against the Blaze, Pacha added: “Coventry are always a competitive team but for us, we just have to play the same way we did against Nottingham.
“We just have to bear down defensively and stay out of the penalty box, that seemed to be a problem for us in Cardiff.
“Right now, we are a bit inconsistent, so this is a good opportunity for us to get right back on track in the league and seize the opportunity we have to finish potentially fourth or fifth.
“There is a lot of hockey left and it is going to be an exciting second half of the season!”
Stars forward, Toms Rutkis then discussed how the team pick themselves up and move on from Wednesday night.
He said: “We have to learn from what we did wrong in Cardiff, keep doing what we did well, forget about it and get back to playing the right way.
“We still have a lot of league games left and a lot to play for, so each point is very important to us and could make a huge impact on our season.
“Playing at home gives us a big advantage, so we have to make sure that we use that to the best of our ability.”
The Latvian-born Brit then explained what the team must do to overcome the Blaze tonight, he added: “We have to play a simple, smart game and not give them any easy opportunities.
“Outworking them all night and having high energy will bring us success, create opportunities for us and the rest will follow.”
Face-off times for this weekend’s to matches are at 7pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.
The limited 200 tickets for both matches have sold out but fans can still watch the game via the Dundee Stars TV live stream, which can be purchased via the club’s website and social media channels or clicking the link HERE!
