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The action of Week 24 in the Elite Ice Hockey League begins on Wednesday night as Belfast Giants host Dundee Stars at the SSE Arena for a 7pm face-off.
Out of six meetings between the teams so far this season in the league and the cup, Belfast have been victorious on four occasions with Dundee without a win away at Belfast since December 2019.
The Giants are four points ahead of the Stars, but only 13 points separate them from Nottingham Panthers at the bottom of the table, and so the race for a playoff place is still very much on.
The action continues for the Giants as they host Coventry Blaze on Friday. The Blaze are also only five points behind Belfast with tributes set to be paid to Coventry’s Dayle Keen with a minute’s silence observed before the game following the news of his passing earlier this week.
Manchester Storm will then host Dundee Stars at 7:30pm in a battle between 6th and 7th.
The first half of the season for the Storm could be described as a rollercoaster, but there is no denying their incredible form as of late with six league wins at home from seven.
When the Stars last travelled to Manchester, it was on overtime victory for the home side with the Storm securing two vital points courtesy of their captain, Cam Critchlow.
Fife Flyers make the journey to Glasgow on Friday night in the first game of the Scottish double header, before the Clan travel to Fife the following day for a 7:15pm face-off at the Fife Ice Arena.
Both teams have had success in Glasgow and Fife this season so it’s hard to tell who will be victorious and claim the points as we enter the business end of the 23/24 season.
The Flyers are currently on the wrong side of the playoff qualification line, but only three points behind the Clan.
Coming into the game off the back of a win over league leaders Sheffield Steelers, Cardiff Devils were full of confidence when they travelled to Guilford on Sunday evening.
Whilst the Flames managed to keep the score level through regulation time and into overtime to secure themselves a point, the visitors took the extra point with a shootout win.
On Friday evening, the Flames make the journey to Cardiff, looking to get revenge and take both points this time round.
The league leaders’ first game of the weekend is against Manchester Storm on Saturday evening at the Utilita Arena.
The two sides have met four times already this season in league competition with Sheffield leading 4-0 heading into game five of six - the Steelers will travel to Manchester on March 31st for game six.
Most recently, it was a 3-0 win for the league leaders at home to the Storm with Matt Greenfield recording another shutout.
Superhero night in Nottingham will see the Panthers host the Devils, unveiling special edition jerseys at the Motorpoint Arena.
When Cardiff were last visitors in Nottingham on Wednesday 21st February, the Panthers came from 4-2 down to win 5-4 with goals from Didrik Henbrant, Logan Neilson, Joe Hazeldine Anthony Luciani and Hugo Roy, and they are now only four points outside of the playoff qualification zone and ten points away from 4th.
Glasgow’s third and final game of the weekend comes against Coventry Blaze at the SSE Arena at 7pm on Saturday with the home side looking to replicate their 4-2 win from February 16th.
Dundee Stars start the action in the EIHL on Sunday as they host the league leaders in Scotland.
The two sides haven’t faced each other since late January when the Steelers won 5-1 and added two points to their lead at the top of the table.
The Stars currently hold a playoff position, but they are level on points with Coventry Blaze and Manchester Storm in 5th and 6th, and only six points ahead of Fife Flyers who are 9th, just outside of a playoff qualification.
The final game of Week 24 is between the Flames and the Panthers at 6pm with the latter hungry for points in their quest to qualify for playoffs.
When they last travelled to Guilford, they fell to a 6-2 defeat, but their recent form should fuel them with confidence this time round.
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