Tonight: Blaze looking to edge closer to playoffs against must-win Flyers

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Coventry Blaze host Fife Flyers at the Skydome on Saturday night in a game that was added to the fixture list after the initial fixture was called before Christmas.

After a run of six straight losses that put their playoff place in doubt, Coventry have responded with three straight wins to move themselves up to fifth overall. Making up the seven-point gap to Nottingham might be a push too far for Danny Stewart's side, although they do still need to play the Panthers a further three times. The blaze only need seven points to secure their place in the post-season, which will decrease with every point that Manchester drop between now and the end of the season.

Fife effectively need to win all of their remaining seven games, and hope other results go in their favour, to make the playoffs. The Flyers can only reach 47 points, and teams currently in the playoff places are between three and five points shy of that target already. After a mini-revival, the Flyers slipped to three straight defeats before beating Glasgow last weekend which just about kept them alive. 

Coventry have won both meetings between the teams on their own ice by a combined score of 8-2. The Flyers' last win in the Blaze's rink was in September 2019.