Tonight: Rivalry games in Cardiff and Sheffield

Photo: David Williams

Cardiff and Sheffield are both set for big rivalry games on Saturday night with the visits of Belfast and Nottingham respectively - all four sides secured progression to the Premier Sports Challenge Cup Semi-Finals in the last fortnight.

Both games get underway at 19:00!

Cardiff Devils vs. Belfast Giants (Webcast)
The Devils host the Giants eight days after the sides met in Belfast, where it was that latter who came away with the win after scoring the only goal in 60 minutes.

That game ended on a controversial note after the Devils thought they'd equalised inside the final 90 seconds, only for the goal to be washed out on video review. Now the sides head back to Cardiff to do it all again, and for what will be the final time in league action at Ice Arena Wales this season.

Belfast saw their unbeaten streak stopped at 11 games with defeat in Glasgow on Wednesday night. That result left them three points behind leaders Sheffield having now played a game more than the Steelers.

Cardiff came through their cup tie against Dundee to extend their run of results to one loss in 10 games. The Devils are level with Sheffield at the top but have played five more games than the Steelers - their three-point advantage over the Giants is largely down to having played four more games than them, too. Neither team has any room for error tonight in terms of the overall title race, but the Devils have won both of their home meetings this season - Belfast haven't won in Cardiff since 24 November 2019.

Sheffield Steelers vs. Nottingham Panthers (Webcast)
League leaders Sheffield are looking for their eighth straight win in all competitions when they face local rivals Nottingham tonight.

The Steelers are also hoping to extend a streak of not having lost in regulation for 14 games, form that has put them in pole position at the top of the table with 85% of points collected from their 23 games so far.

In the Panthers, however, they find a team in great form since a change of coach. Under Mark Matheson, the Panthers won five straight before an overtime defeat in Dundee last Sunday. Midweek, they went down 3-2 in Guildford in the cup but had done enough over 120 minutes to win the series on aggregate 6-5. 

While these sides met multiple times in the cup, they have so far only contested one league meeting in each other's building this season - both were won by the Steelers. The Panthers' last league win in Sheffield was in February 2020.