Dundee Stars host Manchester Storm on Wednesday night knowing that winning the bulk of their remaining games is their only option if they want to reach the playoffs.
The Stars enter the week facing a 14-point gap to Glasgow Clan in the race for the final playoff spot, with just 22 games left to make up the difference. That means Dundee will likely need to win at least seven more games than Glasgow over the remainder of the regular season to have any realistic chance of making the post-season.
There were, however, encouraging signs last week. The Stars picked up a point at home against Cardiff Devils before following it up with an impressive road win in Nottingham.
Manchester, meanwhile, arrive in a strong position. A three-point weekend last time out – which could easily have been four – has Storm sitting comfortably in fifth place. With two games in hand, including Wednesday night’s fixture, they will be looking to cut the six-point gap to Sheffield Steelers above them. Storm have lost just one game in regulation in their last six outings, recording three wins and two OT/SO losses in that stretch.
Meetings between these sides have been tight this season. Two of the four previous encounters have required penalty shots to decide a winner, while another went to overtime.
Photo: Derek Black
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