Opening weekend of the 2026/27 season continues on Sunday with Part II and another five Challenge Cup games. Belfast Giants, Cardiff Devils, Glasgow Clan, Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers all remain unbeaten after picking up wins on Saturday night, while Manchester Storm and Fife Flyers each earned a point from shootouts.
Two opening-night winners meet in Glasgow at 16:00 as Clan host Belfast. The Giants began their Challenge Cup campaign with a 4-1 victory in Dundee, with Nicholas Guay, Mason Klee, Patrick Guay and Scott Conway on the scoresheet. Glasgow also took two points on Saturday, although they needed a shootout to get past Fife after the Flyers fought back from 3-1 down to tie the game late. Deven Sideroff eventually scored the decisive goal after ten rounds of the shootout.
Manchester and Nottingham meet for the second time in as many days at 16:00, this time at the AO Arena. Saturday’s game went all the way to a shootout after the sides were tied at 3-3 through regulation and remained level after overtime. Tim Doherty scored the only goal of the shootout, while Mat Robson stopped all of Storm’s attempts to give the Panthers the extra point. Nottingham therefore arrive unbeaten, while Manchester head home to play their first competitive game at the AO Arena in more than 20 years.
The first competitive Dundee-Fife meeting of the season gets under way at 17:00, less than 24 hours after contrasting opening-night results. Dundee were beaten 4-1 at home by Belfast, with former Flyer Keaton Jameson scoring the Stars’ only goal. Fife, meanwhile, recovered from 3-1 down against Glasgow to force overtime and secure a point.
Cardiff travel to Coventry for a 17:30 faceoff looking to make it two wins from two after opening their campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Guildford. Josh McDonald, Kohen Olischefski and Nick Welsh scored for the Devils after they had fallen behind early. Coventry will be looking for a response after a difficult opening night in Sheffield, where the Blaze were beaten 6-0.
Sheffield head to Guildford for the day’s late game, an 18:00. start as one of the five teams still unbeaten in the Challenge Cup after an emphatic 6-0 win over Coventry on Saturday. Guildford, meanwhile, return home looking for their first points after going down 3-1 in Cardiff despite Cole Sanford giving the Flames an early lead with the first goal of the Motorpoint Elite League season.
Photo: Matthew Collier
