Tonight: 4 more games round off Week 13

Will there be a new league leader?

Week 13 in the Elite Ice Hockey League comes to a close this Sunday afternoon with four more games.

1600 Cardiff Devils vs. Belfast Giants
Part two of this weekend’s Devils-Giants Series sees both sides head into the game with points in the bag already. Belfast won last night’s game in overtime to end their run of losses, but Cardiff’s comeback to earn a point from three goals down gave them enough to be positive about from a game that looked out of reach after half an hour.

“The fightback in the third period yesterday was huge and showed a lot about the veteran leadership we have in this team. We are aware now of the way that we need to play to beat this team and take the lessons from yesterday to hopefully come out with the right result today.” – Luke Pigott (Assistant Coach, Cardiff Devils) 

“I thought we handled the situation well yesterday, and to come out with the overtime win in the end was a huge confidence boost that we can take forward.” – Jeff Mason (Assistant Coach, Belfast Giants)

1730 Coventry Blaze vs. Sheffield Steelers
Contrasting results for the Blaze and Steelers on Saturday night makes this clash important for both teams. Coventry’s disappointing defeat in Dundee means that the Blaze slipped back in their pursuit of the top four and are looking over their shoulder a little more at the teams coming up behind them. Sheffield’s overtime win against Nottingham moved them back up to second, and with Glasgow not playing tonight the Steelers could end the weekend back on top.

“Our main focus has to be cleaning up in our own zone. We did some positive things in Dundee but overall it wasn't a good night overall. It's a good test to see how we can lose back.” – Danny Stewart (Head Coach, Coventry Blaze)

“We can’t waste the points we gained last night without getting another win in Coventry. We needed a four-point weekend here and need to keep pushing our points total especially at this time of year.” – Aaron Fox (Head Coach, Sheffield Steelers)

1730 Manchester Storm vs. Nottingham Panthers
Manchester and Nottingham meet on Sunday night with both teams starting to get within touching distance of where they need to be in the league. The Storm earned an excellent shootout win in Fife to move on to 13 points which, although they stay last, keeps them only three points from breaking into the playoff places.

Nottingham lost in Sheffield in overtime, but that point kept them seventh and ahead of Guildford in what’s becoming a very congested middle of the table. The Panthers are now only a win away from breaking into the top five.

“We have three road wins in a row now and that’s something that has been an Achilles heel for us previously. It’s definitely something we need to take into our own barn against Nottingham today.” – Ryan Finnerty (Head Coach, Manchester Storm)

“I think we worked hard in Sheffield, battled back and believed. We’ve been putting some good games together lately and our players have been realising that it’s a team game and we need everyone to be on the same page to be successful.” – Tim Wallace (Head Coach, Nottingham Panthers)

1800 Guildford Flames vs. Fife Flyers
Both the Flames and Flyers travel down from Scotland for their clash in surrey having earned at least a point this weekend already. Guildford will be full of confidence thanks to their win against league leaders Glasgow.

A much-needed road win for the Flames, they now return to home ice where they lose to the Flyers earlier in the season and were beaten by Manchester a week ago – on their own ice Guildford are however one of the best three teams in the league.

“We can’t use excuses because everybody travels, and it averages itself out over a season. We have to take the good points out of the win in Glasgow last night and carry this into this game. We’ll need to get the first period out of the way and use our home record to our advantage.” – Paul Dixon (Head Coach, Guildford Flames) 

“For the most part, our games against Guildford have always been close and hard-fought matches. We’re both teams in a position that we’re not necessarily comfortable with, it’s important that we’re ready and a three-point weekend would help us greatly. ” – Todd Dutiaume (Head Coach, Fife Flyers)