The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Stars must bounce back to earn a tilt at play-offs
Dundee men cannot let derby defeat get them down, says coach
A crucial home win against Manchester Storm tonight can help Dundee Stars back into the Elite League play-off places – and make up for last week’s disappointing derby defeat at the hands of Fife Flyers.
Omar Pacha’s men are one point off a spot in the post-season and three points behind Storm, so a good weekend can have a big impact on their hopes of making the play-offs.
Stars also travel to Wales tomorrow to face second-placed Cardiff Devils for the last time in this league campaign – with the Dundee outfit hoping for a repeat of their 5-2 victory when the sides last clashed.
Pacha said: “We have to move on from last week because we have a huge game against Manchester and we need the points. We need to go out there and be prepared but also play a lot harder.”
“The game is massive, this is a fourpoint swing and we don’t know which two teams are going to get those last two spots but Manchester are one of the teams competing with us, so we need to make sure we do the job at home now.
“We have put ourselves in a position to take care of business at home with the game against Manchester and later on Glasgow, when they come here.
“So, those two games are crucial and if we do the job at home then we will put ourselves in an even better position for the final few games.”
The Canadian is not thinking too much about tomorrow’s trip to Cardiff but is confident Stars can match their victory of two weeks ago.
He said: “It will be great challenge to see how we match-up when we get there and obviously they are competing for a title but we are competing for a play-off spot, so I don’t think there is any points guaranteed for anyone.
“We proved that in Sheffield and we will take that same mindset to Cardiff.”
Dundee’s top scorer Kevin Dufour has stressed that the team must bounce back from the loss to Fife.
He said: “We know we are not going to win every game but we just have to make sure we bounce back against Manchester.
“We are at the point in this season where is every game is important, not just these play-off battles.”
Face-off for tonight’s home game against Manchester faces-off at 7pm and tomorrow’s game in Cardiff begins at 4pm.
Meanwhile, Todd Dutiaume would love to repeat Flyers’ recent home win over pacesetters Sheffield Steelers in The House of Steel tonight
The shock 3-1 victory helped put Fife back in with a slim chance of qualifying for the end-of-season play-offs.
That result was backed by a four-point weekend with wins at rivals Dundee Stars (3-1) and at home to Manchester Storm (3-2), two teams also battling for a place in the top eight which guarantees a slot in the end-of-season play-offs.
But Sheffield also claimed a four-point weekend and Flyers’ head coach added: “What I hope is that this team (Fife) have not left it too late to turn on the game we really should expect out of any Fife team any season.
“All we can do is what we can do and we have two one-game weekends ahead of ourselves. This is a chance to attack these teams and prepare for one team. “We have to believe in our own ability.” Dutiaume’s men are bottom with 34 points from 47 games. Sheffield have 61 points from 46 outings and lead the table by a point from Devils, who have three games in hand.
The team have also been boosted by 35-year-old Paul Crowder being named Elite League Player of the Week