Sunday: Full schedule and four early games
It's a packed league fixtures list on Sunday afternoon
1600 Belfast Giants vs. Manchester Storm
Part two of the Giants-Storm weekend battle sees Manchester enter the game with four points in the bags from the past two nights of hockey.
Belfast had struggled on the road this season, but losing a point on home ice was only their second home defeat of the season, leaving them with six points from five games.
“We just have to come ready to play again. We can take it as a positive that we have the chance to re-write last night's scoreline.” – Stephen Murphy (Netminder, Belfast Giants)
“It's a quick turnaround with the four 'o clock start, but we need to be ready. We're two thirds of the way there this weekend, but just need to focus on ourselves. ” – Ryan Finnerty (Head Coach, Manchester Storm)
1600 Nottingham Panthers vs. Cardiff Devils
After ending their winless run, Nottingham return to home ice looking to start a winning run.
Cardiff will be looking for their first week of the week of defeat in the Champions Hockey League as well, but were victorious last Sunday in Coventry to get their road form back on track in the EIHL.
“We need to keep it simple, and I think our players realise that it will take the small things to win hockey games. We had a good team win in Cardiff, and we'll need the same commitment again today.” – Tim Wallace (Head Coach, Nottingham Panthers)
“It's good to get straight back at it, and these 'home and homes' are always fun. We'll need better execution in this game than we had last night.” – Andrew Lord (Head Coach, Cardiff Devils)
1600 Sheffield Steelers vs. Dundee Stars
A week after these two sides met in Dundee, they’ll now do battle again at the FlyDSA Arena with both teams coming off the back of defeats.
Sheffield’s good run was ended in a Challenge Cup defeat on Friday night in Manchester. Their home form has however been very good, with only defeats to Cardiff and Glasgow so far this season. Dundee, despite winning their cup group, have found league points much harder to come by and are winless in in four league games.
“We had a good result in Dundee, and obviously we want to get ourselves on another run. They're a dangerous team though, and it's not a game we can go in unprepared for.” - Aaron Fox (Head Coach, Sheffield Steelers)
“I believe that we have enough character to turn this streak around, it's three in a row and we need to end it. We have to be consistently good on our special teams, and play well both offensively and defensively to do well. It's a long season, but it's all about how quickly you can get out of your slumps. We'll reload, and be better today.” - Omar Pacha (Head Coach, Dundee Stars)
1630 Glasgow Clan vs. Coventry Blaze
An earlier start in Glasgow sees Coventry in the home of the league leaders.
The Blaze are looking to make it three road wins on the spin, and complete a four-point weekend from their Scottish double-header. Glasgow are going for nine wins in a row across all competitions, and will end the weekend two if they at least match Sheffield’s result.
“We took a lot of positives out of last night's win in Dundee. Glasgow are in good form and have a very good goalie and a lot of offense. They're well-balanced, and we'll have to be at our best.” – Danny Stewart (Head Coach, Coventry Blaze)
1800 Guildford Flames vs. Fife Flyers
The Flames let a two-goal lead slip in Scotland, but came through to win in overtime, and host a Flyers side that they’ve already beaten in Surrey this season.
Fife haven’t managed an away win since 14 September – Guildford meanwhile are four unbeaten in the league on their own ice.
“We had a lot of games last season where we outshot Fife, especially in Guildford. There's not much more scouting needed, but we know that Fife will come into our building looking to settle the score. However it's about what we can do - we need to start the game well and use our home advantage.” - Paul Dixon (Head Coach, Guildford Flames)
“We've been involved in a lot of tight games, but we won't continue to be in the top half of the league if we keep dropping points. It's up to us now to head into Guildford and get over the frustration of losing at home by picking up points there.” – Todd Dutiaume (Head Coach, Fife Flyers)
