By Kris Smith
The last time Dundee met the Flames, was a fortnight ago in Surrey, where Paul Dixon’s men were 1-0 leaders for most of the match but would go on to be 3-0 victors.
Guildford’s Jake Bolton, Chris Gerrie and Levi Cable were the scorers, however Bolton will be suspended for Saturday’s match as he serves the second match of his two game ban.
The English club also come to Dundee off the back of a 3-2 overtime defeat to Cardiff Devils on Wednesday night, but just last weekend, had won back to back matches against Coventry Blaze.
Whereas the Tayside team are searching for their first win in five games, and that run was extended last week after losses to Manchester Storm, Fife and Belfast Giants.
On Thursday in Manchester, the Stars were sunk 6-2 with Spencer Dorowicz and Philippe Sanche scoring, before they lost out 4-3 to the Flyers last Saturday, with Sebastian Bengtsson, Charlie Combs and Sanche providing Dundee’s three goals.
However, Omar Pacha’s men responded with a strong performance on Sunday in Belfast, as they levelled the score three times but lost out 4-3 after a penalty shootout, with Gabriel Desjardins (2) and Connor Sills finding the net.
Looking ahead tonight’s match, Stars Head Coach, Pacha said: “It is a big challenge against Guildford on Saturday.
“They are coming off a few good results against Coventry and even Cardiff of Wednesday, but for us, we just have to get the monkey off our back and get that first league win and go from there.
“It was a long trip down there for us last time, so it will be a long trip for them too, so we just have to make sure we capitalise on that and get a good start.
“We know that we can play with speed and create chances, which will give us the best opportunity to win, but we also have to make sure we play well defensively.
“There have been a few things that we have worked on in practice, but mostly, we want to build on that Belfast game and build on the positives from it.
“We are a team that has not had the league results be there so far, but at times we have played really well.
“So, all we are looking for is that consistency and a full 60-minute effort and that I believe will result in wins.”
Meanwhile, Dundee defenseman, Kris Inglis explained how he sees the team’s situation heading into this weekend.
He said: “I cannot fault the boys on effort the last few weeks.
“A hockey season will always have up and downs but the most important thing is how we respond when things are not going our way.
“We have always been hungry in every game to make this club successful, but this week more than ever the boys are fired up for a big bounce back weekend.”
The Dundonian continued: “We know the Flames are a good skating team with some great offence.
“It was a competitive match last time in Guildford and we just came up short, however the distance needed to travel between the two clubs always means the away side have to fight to find their feet early after a long bus ride.
“We need to get on them early and use that home ice advantage, along with a big crowd to put them on their heels and shut them down.”
Face-off for tonight’s game is at 7pm. Buy tickets HERE! or buy your webcast HERE!
