Tonight: Chances for perfect week or to bounce back

Photo: Dean Woolley

Week 21 comes to a close with some important games across the league - chances to make it a perfect week, or to bounce back from defeats.

1600 Sheffield Steelers vs. Belfast Giants

It would be a perfect weekend for Sheffield if they could follow up their win against title-chasing Cardiff by beating defending champions Belfast.

The Steelers moved back to five points clear at the top and, although the Devils have four games in hand, eight wins from the last ten is the sort of form that will make them harder to catch. Belfast's win in Glasgow yesterday was their seventh from their last 10 games, but with seven points to make up on the Steelers and only 19 games to do it in this does having the feeling of a 'must win' for the teal army.

"It was a huge win for us against Cardiff, but now we have to try and close the book against Belfast at home. As soon as we got on the bus yesterday we were already preparing for this to make sure we're ready to go." - Aaron Fox (Head Coach, Sheffield Steelers)

"It's certainly a big one for us. We know that when we play to our best we can compete with Sheffield and beat them. The difficulty for us has been doing that every night, or certainly two games in a row. That's the challenge for our hockey club." - Adam Keefe (Head Coach, Belfast Giants)

1700 Dundee Stars vs. Cardiff Devils

Whichever of Dundee or Cardiff can get their first points of the week on the board will breath a sigh of relief, while whoever is on the losing side again tonight could be giving themselves an uphill task over the last three months of the season.

Dundee slipped to four points behind the playoff places thanks to losing in Coventry and Manchester beating Fife. While the Storm don't play tonight, the Stars have already played a game more and after tonight will only have 17 games left to try and catch up. 

Cardiff's home defeat to Sheffield wasn't the end of the world for their title hopes, but they won't be able to drop many more points if they're to make use of their games in hand. 21 games to make up five points is more than achievable but not winning on the road in Scotland won't help their cause.

"We need all of our lines going to wins games which we didn't in Coventry, but I'm sure our guys will realise that and we'll have more tonight. We know how good Cardiff are but we competed well with them in their rink last weekend and know what it takes to do." - Omar Pacha (Head Coach, Dundee Stars)

"We have to put the Sheffield game behind us quickly now heading up to Dundee. They're a very fast hockey team and are playing well as of late, particularly at home. They're a counter-strike team with a lot of firepower, so we can't be feeling sorry for ourselves against them." - Andrew Lord (Head Coach, Cardiff Devils)

1730 Fife Flyers vs. Nottingham Panthers

Fife host one of the league's in-form teams desperate to end their run of bad results.

Losing in Manchester put the Flyers five points behind the playoff places with 19 games left to play, and left them rooted to the foot of the league table. It extended their run to only one win in 13, heading back home where the Flyers haven't won since the 30 November.

Nottingham have four wins in a row and will go third again if they win and Belfast lose. The Panthers' good recent form has started to bring them back into the title race. Possibly still outsiders, the team trail Sheffield by nine points but have four games in hand to play. A favour from the Giants wouldn't help the Panthers' league position tonight but could be beneficial for them in the long-term.

"Every game is tough at the moment, but it's important to recognise that everything's a choice on the ice -if you're focussed, you compete hard, and fight to get in the areas you need to be then you'll have success. If you're happy to play on the outside and allow people to beat you consistently in individual battles then you'll be looking at far more losses than wins." - Todd Dutiaume (Head Coach, Fife Flyers)

"We needed the rest in the last few days after a busy schedule with the Continental Cup, but the players have had some days to recover now and there are no excuses for not using that time off as a weapon and being ready to go when we get to Fife." - Tim Wallace (Head Coach, Nottingham Panthers)

1800 Guildford Flames vs. Coventry Blaze

While title hopes are all-but gone for Guildford and Coventry, this game is a key mid-table battle that may also decide who has a chance of breaking into the top four before the season is over. Guildford's home win against Belfast ended a disappointing run of form since Christmas to keep them in the top six, but the Flames have played less games than anyone else in the league. Even they would only be five points of the league leaders if they won them all, but the task in hand tonight is to overtake Coventry and get back into fifth.

The Blaze thrashed the Flames when the teams met before Christmas in Coventry, but haven't won a competitive game in Guildford for just over a year. Winning in places like this will be the types of results they need if they want to finish at least fifth.

"We had another full week's worth of training to go over some things, but we played two good games last week and often it's a lot about confidence. The boys felt good after the win against Belfast and we need to take that into this one." - Paul Dixon (Head Coach, Guildford Flames)

"I was pleased with our depth scoring yesterday throughout the roster, and that can be key going into the final months of the seen to get contributions all the way across the lines. That's definitely something we have to take into this game and forward through the next three months." - Danny Stewart (Head Coach, Coventry Blaze)