Any point from Cardiff will be ‘crucial’ for Stars

Dundee Stars head for Cardiff today to take on the Devils.

The sides have already met three times this season with Andrew Lord’s Welsh outfit claiming two wins.

Stars’ sole success came on home ice in September when Omar Pacha’s men triumphed 3-1.

Johan Andersson and Chris Lawrence are the only two players missing from Dundee’s line-up, but Cardiff – who have won their last seven games and are undefeated in December –are minus forward Josh Batch, defencemen Mark Louis and Craig Moore.

Stars’ Canadian forward Malcolm Gould believes that any point Dundee can win will be “crucial” during the festive period.

He said: “The last home game against Cardiff definitely gave us some confidence knowing we can beat them, so we just need to stick to the game plan and use that confidence we have in ourselves as a team.

“At this point of the season every point is crucial. It’s the time of year where we need to be playing our best hockey and start getting ourselves in a play-off mindset.”

Stars head coach Omar Pacha called for another solid defensive performance against the Devils.

“We have been boosted by the return of Anthony Mastrodicasa and it has helped out the other guys in the team,” he said.

“It showed in the Edinburgh and Sheffield games and we have been better five-on-five and not conceded as much.”