Tonight: Eight teams chasing league points

Four games on Saturday night

With Nottingham in Continental Cup action, it leaves eight teams fighting for Elite League points this evening.

1900 Belfast Giants vs. Dundee Stars

A meeting of third versus ninth at the SSE Arena, Belfast tonight, but also between two teams heading into the clash with different fortunes last weekend.

Belfast left Nottingham empty handed after their double-header with the Panthers, results which ended their six-game winning streak. The Giants do however still have at least two games in hand on the teams above them, and with only three points separating them from top spot they still look to be in a strong position at this stage of the season. Their last home game against the Stars ended in a convincing win.

Dundee had a much-needed four-point weekend last time out thanks to wins against Manchester and Fife. Those results moved the Stars to within two points of the top eight, although as they’ve played more games than anyone else in the league they do still have the worst points percentage of any team so far. This is a clash of the league’s best and worst defences – Belfast average 2.23 goals against per game, while Dundee have been giving up an average of 4.18.

"I couldn't fault our effort in Nottingham, but you need people to get you on the board. We need to re-discover out goal-scoring touch somewhat, but we know how dangerous Dundee can be on the counter-attack." - Adam Keefe (Head Coach, Belfast Giants)

"We need to recognise what gave us success last weekend and work hard to replicate it. Belfast are a good team, but every team in this league is good now, so we need to be better on every single night." - Brett Stovin (Defenseman, Dundee Stars)

1900 Manchester Storm vs. Cardiff Devils

Cardiff make their first trip of the season to the Storm Shelter looking to bounce back from two straight road losses. Manchester had a mixed weekend last time out, losing to Dundee but winning at home to Sheffield as they again look to make their own rink a fortress.

The Storm have played less games than the teams around them, but need to make sure they don’t get cast adrift at this early stage- four points currently separate them from a playoff place.

Cardiff’s road form has suffered a slight downturn of late with the Devils winning just one of their last five in all competitions. Andrew Lord’s side do continue to have the league’s best powerplay at 22.95%, although the penalty kill sits at 85% - Manchester, by comparison, are on 17.19% and almost an 89% kill

"We played Manchester earlier in the season in our own rink, and it was a very tight game. They have some very dangerous players, one of whom we know ver well. We'll need a full 60 minute effort there, with no shifts taken off, if we're to be sucessful." - Andrew Lord (Head Coach, Cardiff Devils)

1900 Sheffield Steelers vs. Coventry Blaze

Coventry head to Sheffield for the final time this regular season looking to make it a trio of wins against the Steelers on their own ice. An opening night success was followed up by another two-goal win last month, and road form has been a big part of the Blaze’s solid start this season.

Sheffield came out on the wrong end of a pair of 4-3 scorelines last weekend, but despite ending with no points other results mean they stayed second. The Steelers find themselves in an odd position where a few wins could have them top again, but results going against them could see the team end the weekend in fifth. Aaron Fox’s men continue to lead the league for average goals scored per game – 4.19 making them one of the league’s most entertaining teams.

Coventry made some statement with their 9-2 thrashing on Glasgow on Sunday, a result that moved Danny Stewart’s side up to fifth. The Blaze head into this weekend with the possibility of making real inroads into the chasing pack but facing the Steelers and then Belfast will be no easy task.

The Blaze are the league's second-best road team so far with five wins from seven and have special teams that rank as the second and third-best in the league respectively (19.70% PP, 86.21% PK).

"Coventry are a good team, they have beaten us twice here this year so we will be looking for a bit of retribution. As we saw last weekend from them, if you don't show up, and you don't play, you are going to get nine goals put past you." - Ben O'Connor (Defenseman, Sheffield Steelers)

“We’ve had some success in Sheffield this year and we’ll be looking for more of the same on Saturday. We know how much talent they have and we’ll need to be at our very best, but we’ve been playing good hockey and we will go there confident.” - Danny Stewart (Head Coach, Coventry Blaze)

1915 Fife Flyers vs. Glasgow Clan

Scottish rivals Fife and Glasgow meet in Kirkcaldy with a stark contrast between the team’s fortunes in the opening 11 weeks of the season – and especially in the last two months.

Fife had a terrible October, and with only one win from three so far they are in great need of a win to get November back on track. Those results have seen the Flyers slip down the table to just two points ahead of falling out of the playoff places altogether with only three wins from their last ten games. If the Flyers are to begin moving back up the table, home form will be key – they’re only 40% on their own ice so far.

Contrast that with Glasgow Clan, who are probably the team with the most ‘feel-good factor’ in the EIHL as things stand. Leading the league after 15 games and three points clear, Clan bounced back from a 9-2 humbling in Coventry last weekend to beat Cardiff midweek on FreeSports. Glasgow average more than a goal more per game than the Flyers in the league.