Dundee Stars boss Omar Pacha could not fault his players effort over the past weekend despite remaining winless after three Elite League games.
The Canadian coach felt his side had played well enough to get more from their two matches and back-to-back defeats were hard to take.
A 3-0 defeat in Guildford to the Flames on Saturday night was followed by a narrow 2-1 home loss against Sheffield Steelers on Sunday.
Pacha said: “It is another set of results that are tough to swallow.
“It is tough to come out of the weekend with nothing.
“Saturday night, I thought we competed hard, but a long journey and making a few mental mistakes cost us and then our discipline hurt us in the second.
“We were killing off a lot of penalties and going into the third, it is a one-goal hockey game.
“Unfortunately, we made a few more mental mistakes, but we created so many chances that I believe the scoreline flattered them.”
‘Best game of the year’
Then on Sunday, the Stars fought right down until the final buzzer as they tried to force the highest scoring team in the Elite League into overtime.
Pacha added: “Arguably, I think we played our best game of the year against probably one of the top teams, if not the top team in the league this year.
“We created enough but it just was not our night and their goalie played well, but overall I thought we played a good hockey game.
🏒🥅@AdamMorrison91 with the top save of the game week#COYStars https://t.co/tN9LdR9ZfA
— Dundee Stars👻🕸🎃🏒🥅 (@DundeeStars) October 19, 2021
“You can argue that the first period was not our best of the night, but I still thought we really competed hard.
“Sheffield have that high-end offence and we made a few mistakes and they cost us directly.
“If you take away the result and show me the game, I would probably say we would win it, a lot more than we would lose, but that is hockey and we move on.”
‘Don’t want to fault the guys’
Dundee have another chance to find their first league points of the season tonight as they go on the road against Manchester Storm.
“The reality is, every night is a battle and we have to go there prepared and we have to get points on the board,” said Pacha.
“We have had some really good moments and I do not really want to fault the guys play.
“I think they are generating enough chances, so it is really just putting the puck in the goal.”
