Tonight: 10 teams in action on Saturday night

5 games across the Elite League

It's a big Saturday night with important games for both ends of the table.

1800 Guildford Flames vs. Manchester Storm

Two teams with very different short-term aims meet in the day's early start.

Guildford have slowly and steadily moved themselves up the table and are now within sight of the top five. Not picking up points at home tonight could see them fall four points behind the teams above them, and although they have games in hand the gap could start to open up. Conversely, the Flames may well end the night in fifth as well. 

Manchester will be hoping that the hangover of giving up leads against Glasgow is quick to pass. The Storm are level with the playoff places but are still looking for that win that can move them up outright.

Guildford are on a two-game winning streak in the league, while Manchester are trying to win their first game of the week after two losses.

"Manchester’s last visit to our building did not at all go well for us so we surely want to be better than that. Storm did a great job of closing everything down on us and overall it was a performance we want to forget. Saturday I expect to see some real jump out there as we try to improve on what we offered to them a couple of weeks back." - Paul Dixon (Head Coach, Guildford Flames)

"We played very well last time we were in Guildford, we had a good offensive game and kept them to the outside. If we're to be successful again we'll need to get a good start because they have a very skilled team in that big rink. We need to stick to our game plan, shake off last night's loss and make sure we pick up a three-point weekend." - Ryan Finnerty (Head Coach, Manchester Storm)

1900 Belfast Giants vs. Sheffield Steelers

Topping the league tonight is the prize on offer for Belfast and Sheffield in tonight's game. A regulation win will send the Giants top of the league come close of play this evening, while if the Steelers pick up a point they'll stay ahead of the pack. 

The Giants drew first blood in the teams' doubleheader with a comfortable four-goal victory on Friday night. Sheffield will need netminder Tomáš Duba to improve on his 84% of shots saved yesterday if they're to have any chance at taking home the points.

"We expect a big pushback from Sheffield, they have a lot of skilled players. We need to be tight defensively and come out with the same energy as we did yesterday. We need to get pucks in behind them and make them work." - Jeff Mason (Assistant Coach, Belfast Giants)

"This is going to be a huge two-point response from us. You need points in this league every weekend, we came here to get points, and our guys need to look in the mirror and come back hungry for two points tonight." - Aaron Fox (Head Coach, Sheffield Steelers)

1900 Coventry Blaze vs. Nottingham Panthers 

A few weeks ago the Blaze were fifth while Nottingham were just about staying in the playoff places. Some different results later and it's now the Panthers inside the top five while Coventry are just about hanging on inside the top eight.

The Blaze are trying to end a four-game winless run in tonight's game, while Nottingham come in with three wins from their last five.

"Nottingham have made some changes since we last played them and have been in good form so we expect to see a different Panthers team this time around. We are likely to be a couple of bodies down again, but it means as a team we all need to step up to the challenge and find a way to get back in the win column." - Ross Venus (Forward, Coventry Blaze)

"Coventry have skill and have been winning good games, and anything can happen in their rink, so we have to be ready to go." - Tim Wallace (Head Coach, Nottingham Panthers)

1900 Dundee Stars vs. Fife Flyers

Local bragging rights may be on the table tonight in Dundee, but both Fife and the Stars are desperate need of Elite League points. 

The Flyers' home defeat to Guildford left them only two points safe inside the playoff places; but by the same token, a win could see them finish the evening in equal fifth. Dundee have dropped back to three points outside the playoffs after a disappointing zero-point weekend last time out. 

"Fife are a good team that are well-coached, they have a lot of threats up front and play well defensively. Obviously they have a really good goalie as well and we found that out the hard way the first time played them here at home. However, we feel like it doesn’t matter who we play in this league, if we play the way we know we can play then we can beat anyone on any night. It is important to get a result for our fans as well, because they know how massive these games are, so any time you can win a derby for them is great." - Justin Maylan (Forward, Dundee Stars)

 vs. 

1900 Glasgow Clan vs. Cardiff Devils

24 hours after coming back from 3-0 and 4-1 down in Manchester, Glasgow Clan are back on their own ice to face a Cardiff side who comfortably beat them in Wales only a few weeks ago.

The Clan have beaten Cardiff at home already this season live on FreeSports, but having somehow earned two points against the Storm confidence will be high for the men in purple.

Cardiff travel north of the border hoping for a better result than their last visit to intu Braehead. With 7 points from their last 10 games the Devils are one of the league's form sides at the moment, and while they can't go top tonight they could move to within a point of the leaders with a win.

"Cardiff are a good team, it's been kind of back and forth with them all season so far, but we have them in our house this team. You can say we owe them one, but we know what they do well having played them recently and need to be ready for that. It's important we get a good start and get our crowd into it." - Zack Fitzgerald (Head Coach, Glasgow Clan)

"I wasn't happy with several things on our last visit to Glasgow, but since then I've liked a lof of how we've been playing. Getting off to a good start will be key, Glasgow are very strong at home in front of their own fans and we can't afford to give them any easy headstarts." - Andrew Lord (Head Coach, Cardiff Devils)