By Kris Smith
The Stars are in Northern Ireland tonight as they face the Giants for the final time in the regular season, before then hosting Manchester tomorrow, in what is also their final league clash with the Storm.
Wednesday night’s 5-2 victory in Altrincham helped a short-benched Dundee to move seven points clear of the Storm but Mike Morin’s side have two games in hand over the Taysiders.
Marc LeFebvre’s men took the lead in the first period thanks to Brendan Harms powerplay goal on 14 minutes, before Keanu Yamamoto added a second inside 30 minutes but the home team then pulled one back just three minutes later as Ryan Hughes converted on the man advantage for Manchester.
Kameron Kielly’s 38th minute strike would restore the Stars two-goal cushion and they would not add to it again until 57 minutes had been played as Harms scored into an empty net as the Storm gambled late.
Although, Dallas Ehrhardt responded just 32 seconds later to make it 4-2 before Spencer Naas’ buzzer-beater sealed a 5-2 win Dundee and two vital points in their push for a playoff spot.
Now they face Belfast this evening, who are closing in on a league title as they sit top of the 10-team league with 64 points after 43 games and only a five-point gap separates the top three clubs.
The Stars were victorious in their last encounter with the Giants, as they beat them 3-1 in Dundee to give them their first win over Adam Keefe’s squad in nine attempts this season.
Last weekend, Belfast were beaten 4-3 in Manchester on Saturday night and then lost 3-2 at home to Glasgow Clan in overtime, whilst the Stars were downed 4-0 in Nottingham by the Panthers and then lost 10-4 on home ice against Sheffield Steelers.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s contests, Stars Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre said: “We did a good job during the week and we have to continue that.
“Albeit with the numbers we have in the line-up, we need to be smart defensively and manage the puck and the game, so it is all hands-on deck going forward into the Belfast game.
“They are looking to rebound themselves as they did not have a great weekend and I know Keefe will have them ready to go, especially on home ice, but they are trying to clinch the league title and will not want to drop any more points.
“That said, we have had some good battles with them this season, especially in the most recent games and I expect no different tonight.”
Face-off for tonight’s road game in Belfast is at 7pm.
All images: William Cherry/Presseye.
