By Luke McGinnis
Marc LeFebvre’s side are coming off a demanding four-game homestand that saw them face the EIHL’s top four teams — the Nottingham Panthers, Sheffield Steelers, Cardiff Devils and Belfast Giants.
Dundee opened the stretch with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Panthers, before falling 4-0 to the Steelers. Last weekend, the Stars were pushed to their limits, suffering a 7-0 defeat to the Devils on Saturday and a 6-1 loss to the Giants on Sunday.
“We’re in the mud right now, but we’ve got to dig ourselves out and it’s up to me to figure that out,” said LeFebvre reflecting on the recent string of results. “I’m optimistic going into every game that we’re going to win — you’ve got to have that positivity from the start — but we’ve just got to find a way,”
Sunday marked the most recent meeting between the Stars and Giants, with the sides having already faced off four times in Challenge Cup action and once previously in the regular season.
Their first clash came on opening night in Belfast, where Dundee claimed a 7-4 victory, before repeating the feat with a 5-2 win on home ice the following weekend.
The Stars then edged a 5-4 shootout win at the Dundee Ice Arena a few weeks later, before the Giants responded with a 5-3 victory in Belfast and secured their first win of the season in Dundee with a 4-1 result less than three weeks ago.
Matt Berry leads the Stars offensively against the Giants this season with eleven points, followed closely by captain Drydn Dow on eight, while Spencer Naas leads the team with five goals.
For Belfast, Jordan Kawaguchi leads all players with six goals, while Nicolas Guay tops the Giants’ scoring with eleven points.
“I don’t care who we’re playing — you’ve got to play hard for sixty minutes. You don’t quit and you don’t give up,” LeFebvre concluded. “We’ve got to get the results going the right way, and it starts against Belfast in their building.”
