Cardiff Devils will have another ‘Hell-Out’ evening at the Viola Arena when Milton Keynes Lightning arrive in South Wales.
Lightning visit Cardiff Bay this evening and the fixture is virtually sold out (7pm).
Captain Jake Morissette and his Devils are top of Elite League and on course to win a third successive title, but they have 16 fixtures to play and rivals Belfast Giants are chasing hard.
Lightning are in Cardiff tonight, while the teams meet again at the Planet Ice Arena on Sunday.
MK are 15 points adrift at the bottom, but Cardiff coach Andrew Lord has warned his players his players Lightning will strike hard and fast if Devils take their visitors lightly.
“If we go in to the game with the wrong mindset we’ll be punished,” said Lord.
“We’ve seen so many times this season that any team can beat anybody on any night. Milton Keynes won here in Cardiff earlier in the season.
“There are no easy games in this league. They have a great netminder (Patrick Killeen) who can steal games for them.”
Devils have earned only have two wins from their last five matches, but on their own ice they have not lost in the league since early December.
MK ended their lengthy losing streak at home to Dundee, but haven’t recorded an away win since January 3.
“Cardiff are a well-structured team and have been a top team in this league for the past few years for a good reason,” said Lightning player-coach Tim Wallace.
“It is important to play physical when we face each other back-to-back. We must play fast and be hard to play against.
“Our puck management has been a lot better as of late and we must continue with that game plan against a dangerous offensive team like Cardiff.”
Devils have three players with over 50 points – Gleason Fournier, Charles Linglet and Joey Martin, while Lightning have no players with more than 40 points and have won only 12 of 45 games.
Lord has a near fully fit roster to select from with Evan Mosey close to being available again after that mid-ice hit which laid him out against Panthers.
Devils won’t rush Mosey back, though, particularly at a time when they have a spare import on the team.
Belfast are at home to Glasgow Clan this evening, only 48 hours since they clashed in the Challenge Cup semi-finals at the SSE Arena in Northern Ireland.
Giants went through to the final, but this is a battle between the teams placed second and third.
Clan have seven wins from their last 10 fixtures on the road and are one of the form away teams in the league.
They do, however, face the league’s best home team, Giants having taken 35 points from a possible 40 this season.
Giants have four players with more than 50 league points.
Elite League fixtures on Saturday:
7pm Cardiff Devils v MK Lightning (Tickets | Webcast)
7pm Belfast Giants v Glasgow Clan (Tickets | Webcast)
7pm Manchester Storm v Guildford Flames (Tickets | Webcast)
7pm Nottingham Panthers v Sheffield Steelers (Tickets | Webcast)
7.15pm Fife Flyers v Coventry Blaze (Tickets | Webcast)
ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE TABLE 2018-19
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA | PIM | STREAK |
| Cardiff Devils | 44 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 69 | .784 | 176 | 113 | 511 | 0-1 |
| Belfast Giants | 45 | 33 | 10 | 2 | 68 | .756 | 181 | 113 | 578 | 0-1 |
| Glasgow Clan | 45 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 58 | .644 | 164 | 136 | 532 | 4-0 |
| Nottingham Panthers | 49 | 24 | 16 | 9 | 57 | .582 | 150 | 152 | 790 | 1-0 |
| Fife Flyers | 43 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 49 | .570 | 142 | 143 | 617 | 2-0 |
| Guildford Flames | 47 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 49 | .521 | 150 | 151 | 576 | 1-0 |
| Sheffield Steelers | 47 | 23 | 22 | 2 | 48 | .511 | 141 | 161 | 639 | 2-0 |
| Dundee Stars | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 46 | .500 | 129 | 159 | 441 | 0-5 |
| Manchester Storm | 46 | 20 | 21 | 5 | 45 | .489 | 138 | 159 | 989 | 0-3 |
| Coventry Blaze | 43 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 43 | .500 | 155 | 174 | 549 | 0-2 |
| Milton Keynes Lightning | 45 | 12 | 29 | 4 | 28 | .311 | 106 | 171 | 780 | 1- |
ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE LEADING SCORERS 2018-19
Players with 50 or more points
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | NUM | GP | G | A | P | PIM | PP | PPA | SH | SHA | GWG |
| 1 | Ben Lake | COV | F | 9 | 43 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 84 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Gleason Fournier | CAR | D | 20 | 44 | 18 | 42 | 60 | 24 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Mike Hammond | MAN | F | 21 | 39 | 14 | 45 | 59 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Kruise Reddick | GUI | F | 51 | 47 | 23 | 34 | 57 | 32 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Matt Beca | GLA | F | 26 | 45 | 23 | 34 | 57 | 18 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Brendan Connolly | GLA | C | 9 | 43 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 74 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Alex Nikiforuk | COV | F | 22 | 43 | 19 | 36 | 55 | 39 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Darcy Murphy | BEL | LW | 15 | 44 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Blair Riley | BEL | RW | 25 | 45 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 49 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Tim Crowder | COV | F | 90 | 43 | 20 | 33 | 53 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Charles Linglet | CAR | F | 70 | 44 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 12 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Joey Martin | CAR | C | 88 | 44 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Paul Crowder | FIF | C | 80 | 42 | 22 | 29 | 51 | 50 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Alex Guptill | NOT | F | 27 | 47 | 30 | 20 | 50 | 33 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Kyle Baun | BEL | F | 12 | 45 | 19 | 31 | 50 | 22 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 16 | David Rutherford | BEL | F | 91 | 43 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 51 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 |