Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
ROUND-UP Stars confident of snuffing out in-form Storm
DUNDEE CCS Stars face Manchester Storm in an important league and Gardiner Conference game tonight (5.30pm).
They will look to put Friday’s 4-2 away defeat to Nottingham Panthers behind them.
Although disappointed to lose against Panthers, the Taysiders put on a good performance against the form side of the league.
Storm come into the game on the back of an excellent away win against Cardiff Devils on Friday, so confidence will be high i n the home dressing-room.
Coach Marc LeFebvre said: “I am happy with the way we are playing right now.
“Although we haven’t been getting the results our play has deserved, as a coach, you feel it’s coming. We’ve just got to keep with it.
“Storm had a great result against Cardiff but we haven’t lost to them yet, so there is no reason as to why we can’t get full points.
“It’s a huge fixture for us in terms of league position and the Conference, so we’ll be out to give it all we’ve got and, hopefully, register a win.”
On Friday, Stars had travel difficulties due to the weather which meant the face-off, scheduled for 7.30pm, was delayed until 8pm.
Stars welcomed back captain Joey Sides and Cale Tanaka to the line-up after a long spell out with injuries.
The Taysiders, despite their arduous journey, came out of the blocks flying and took a 1-0 lead after only 43 seconds when Justin Faryna opened the scoring.
Then a frantic six-minute spell saw a f urther three counters that tied the game at 2-2.
Brian McGrattan levelled the game at 1-1 after five minutes but, just two minutes later, Dundee restored their one goal advantage when Felix Poulin netted.
However, in 11 minutes, Robert Farmer scored to bring the game back to 2-2 and that’s how it stood at the break.
The middle session was goalless with both teams having chances but the defences were in good form.
Panthers had more shots on goal than the visitors but Stars were playing well and looking dangerous on the counter attack.
Just 48 seconds into the final period, Stars’ Joey Sides took a two-minute minor for hooking.
On the powerplay, Nottingham took the lead for the first time in the match with a goal from Farmer, his second of the night.
Dundee were still in the game and pressing for the equaliser when, with just over a minute remaining, they were dealt a sucker blow when Alex Nikiforuk scored to give the home side a 4-2 win.
LeFebvre said: “We played well but just didn’t get any bounces.
“It was great to get the bodies back (Sides and Tanaka) but they hadn’t practised together with the guys for a few weeks, so it will take time to settle in again.’
‘We put together a makeshift line at the start and got off to a flyer.
“We had opportunities to score but just didn’t quite manage to find the net.
“However, I can’t fault the efforts of the team and, if we keep working as hard as we are, then the chances will convert to goals and we’ll pick up points.”
NHL RESULTS