Stars look to tame Panthers and secure play-off boost

ICE HOCKEY: Dundee seek elusive win over Nottingham in bid to close gap

Dundee Stars aim to crank up the pressure on play-off rivals Braehead and Coventry tonight by taking points from their final league visit to Nottingham.

The Elite League game with the Panthers was due to go ahead on Friday night but was postponed due to the adverse weather conditions.

Both teams were quick to secure a date for the replay as Stars have a busy schedule in the final stretch of the regular season.

This is the Stars’ third encounter with the Panthers in a month and they have yet to win against Corey Neilson’s side.

Dundee’s last trip to Nottinghamshire ended in a 3-0 defeat despite head coach Omar Pacha saying his side played well and were unlucky.

Panthers made it two wins out of two after adding a 3-1 victory at Dundee Ice Arena.

It has been two tough games against Neilson’s side, but a lack of clinical finishing has made it difficult for Stars to keep up.

Nottingham’s only scheduled game of the weekend was against Stars, so they will be a well-rested side.

Neilson’s team have had no trouble finding the net, scoring 28 goals in their last five games, including a 7-2 thumping of Cardiff and a 10-1 thrashing of Edinburgh.

Nottingham will be without defenceman Yann Sauve as he serves the final part of his two-game suspension, while Jordan Kelsall remains out through injury.

Stars showed they could be better at finishing their chances after putting nine goals past Edinburgh Capitals on Sunday, but they still need to tighten up at the back after conceding four to the last-placed Caps.

Braehead Clan won their only game of the weekend as they defeated Sheffield Steelers 5-2 at Braehead Arena to maintain their three-point lead over Dundee. Coventry Blaze beat Edinburgh 7-2 but then lost 4-1 in Guildford and that also kept them just three points ahead of Dundee.

Pacha insists that his team are taking things slow with a game-by-game approach.

He said: “We just have to go one game at a time. We have played two good games against Nottingham in the last few weeks.

“They have been tight games, but we need to focus more on the scoring aspect.

“We have been struggling as we have only scored one goal in the last two games against them.

“We are working on our offensive touch around the net and finding ways to score goals.

“However, Nottingham are a team that is good everywhere – they have skill up front and big, strong, tough defencemen.

“The last two games against them they have had good goaltending and those games were tight, but they could have gone either way.

“If we limit our mistakes and capitalise on theirs and try to get through their goalie, we will have a successful night.

Face-off is at 7.30 in Nottingham tonight.