It’s a full schedule across the Elite League on Saturday night.
Belfast Giants welcome Glasgow Clan to the SSE Arena in a key Challenge Cup Group B matchup. The Giants sit in a strong position to progress but will want to build momentum after two wins over Fife last weekend. For Glasgow, the stakes are higher: Corey Neilson’s side still have five group games to play and need to start closing the gap on the teams above them. Clan beat Belfast 3-2 in overtime earlier this season in Braehead, but the Giants won the earlier fixture in Belfast.
Fife Flyers are home again after a midweek shootout loss to Dundee looking for their first league points of the season. They face a Coventry Blaze team that picked up its first win of the league campaign last weekend, defeating then-leaders Glasgow 2-1 at the Skydome. The Flyers are on a seven-game losing run since beating Belfast at the start of October.
Two teams in contrasting form meet in South Wales as Cardiff Devils host Nottingham Panthers. The Devils are aiming to bounce back after losing both games last weekend and being eliminated from the Challenge Cup midweek. Nottingham, meanwhile, enter the weekend on top of the standings after back-to-back victories over Dundee and had a confidence-boosting late comeback on Wednesday night against Coventry.
Sheffield Steelers are home to the Utilita Arena fresh from booking their place in the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals. Aaron Fox’s team have looked sharp at both ends of the ice, outscoring opponents 10-2 across their last two outings. Guildford Flames, meanwhile, came out of two games with Manchester with three points despite having a very short bench.
Dundee Stars will look to build on a Cup win midweek as they return to league action against Manchester Storm. The Stars were beaten xtwice last weekend by Nottingham and have yet to pick up a league win in four attempts. Storm, who briefly topped the table earlier in the month, are coming off a loss in Guildford which effectively ended their Cup campaign before Wednesday’s games.
Photo: William Cherry
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