Marc LeFebevre challenged the Dundee Stars “to get [their] asses in gear” after watching his side fall to a fifth consecutive Elite League defeat on Saturday [25 October].
Goals by Stephen Johnson, Loren Ulett, and a Joseph Nardi brace condemned the Stars to a 4-1 home loss to the Manchester Storm.
“I was a very sloppy game all round, our puck management was terrible all night, and I don’t think that either team was very good,” LeFebvre said of the contest.
Elsewhere, the Belfast Giants blanked the Glasgow Clan in the Challenge Cup, the Sheffield Steelers continued their run of fine form by scoring a last-minute winner against the Guildford Flames, and there were also wins for the Coventry Blaze and Cardiff Devils.
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Saturday, 25 October
Belfast Giants 3-0 Glasgow Clan — Challenge Cup
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
I thought it was a pretty tight game, I liked our first period: we controlled the play there.
It was a bit of a different story in the second period — they came at us pretty hard in the first ten minutes, but we started to find our composure and Jackson [Whistle] made a few big saves. Then we had a powerplay, which came up big for us and got us on the board.
We weathered their storm as much as we could in the third period: Jackson made some great saves and the penalty kill did its job.
Corey Neilson, Glasgow Clan:
It was an unfortunate set of circumstances: the ferry was delayed and we got here about an hour before. Getting out of the first period zero-zero was a big win for us and we really got our legs going in the second period.
That Belfast powerplay took advantage of a penalty and there was a little spell where they had some momentum. Both goaltenders were fabulous tonight — and I give my team a lot of credit for working really hard and never quitting.
Unfortunately, we just couldn’t score, despite generating a tonne of offence.
Cardiff Devils 4-1 Nottingham Panthers
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
I thought we played well at five-on-five: we completed and played a little bit heavier, which we’d moved away from recently.
We came off a bad weekend, so it’s been a long week and we’ve had a lot of meetings and gone through a lot of things on the ice. But, as usual, they’re a super group and they responded well.
They deserved everything they got today because they played a good hockey game. When [Danny Stewart] pulled his goalie with three minutes left, I thought we did a really good job of getting on sticks, blocking shots, and keeping them to the outside.
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
I thought the first period was relatively close, but we came out and forced plays in the second period. They forechecked us hard and forced us into those plays, but — at the same time — there were some situations where we just need to be smarter with puck.
From that, we were put on our heels a little bit and that gave momentum to Cardiff. I thought our penalty kill did a great job, but they earned their lead at five-on-five.
I thought the third period was a lot better for us: we had a lot of good looks and [Ben Bowns] made a lot of good saves. All in all, it’s probably the right result. I’m pleased with the first and third periods, but we needed to be better in the second.
Dundee Stars 1-4 Manchester Storm
Otto Nieminen, Dundee Stars (Image: Derek Black)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
It was a very sloppy game all round, our puck management was terrible all night, and I don’t think that either team was very good.
They capitalised on our mistakes — their second goal was inexcusable and that set the tonne for the rest of the game. We were credited with 41 shots and their goalie saw every single one of them. We didn’t go to the net-front and were very permitter for some reason.
But we have to have some urgency in our game: when it’s not going right for you, you need to play a simple game and we’re not doing that at all. We’re trying to make these rinky-dink plays, which aren’t working and then we’re getting hemmed in our zone for the rest of the shift.
There’s just a lot of details that we have to clean up. There’s no panic here: it’s five games in, but we need to improve. When we play our hockey, we’re good. But we’re only playing five or six minutes at a time. We’ve got to get our asses in gear and get this thing turned around quickly.
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
It was really good — every guy was competing throughout the line-up and it was a really solid road game. Drew [DeRidder] was really something again and that was good to see.
We had four lines rolling over the bench tonight and that’s hard to play against. From here, we want to build on this performance.=
Fife Flyers 1-4 Coventry Blaze
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
I didn’t like our effort over sixty minutes last night, but I thought the guys were great today. It was difficult: we had eight penalties to kill and zero power plays, which makes it challenging and I thought we had a good push to make it one-one.
I think we made two mistakes, cheating on a fifty-fifty puck and that left the net-front wide open. We did a really good job creating chances, but we’ve got to do a better job finishing. Compared to last night, I thought our effort was outstanding tonight.
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
It was a really good, competitive game. It was a fun road game and I was really happy with the guys’ effort in the third and how we were able to build momentum after the second goal. Overall, it was a good performance and I’m happy with the result.
Sheffield Steelers 4-3 Guildford Flames
Dominic Cormier, Sheffield Steelers (Image: Dean Woolley)
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
I thought it was an up-and-down game. I didn’t love our start, but then we got the first goal and found some life. In the second period, we were our own worst enemy at times, turning pucks over at the offensive blueline. It was a big goal to get that done in regulation.
Obviously, I would’ve liked a little bit more of a complete sixty-minute performance, but there’s a lot of hockey to be played and we’re going to take the two points whenever we can get them on nights when we don’t play our best.
Paul Dixon, Guildford Flames:
It’s heartbreaking, really. I thought we had a strong first period, despite being two-nil down. [Matt] Greenfield made some really good saves and we generated a lot of chances.
Two mistakes cost us two goals. In the second period, we came out and did the things we spoke about during the intermission: we were better offensively. We were never ahead tonight, always coming from behind, but it was heartbreak to lose the game in the final seconds.
I thought we were outstanding at five-on-five: it’s tough for us at the moment because we’re still short-staffed. Hockey can be cruel and I thought we deserved more tonight.
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