Belfast Giants are banking on home truths to give them an edge in their Elite League title tussle with Cardiff Devils.
Coach Adam Keefe and his Giants have 19 League fixtures left this season – and 16 of those are at their SSE Arena home rink.
That includes back-to-back fixtures against leaders Devils tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (both 7pm).
Belfast have a massive advantage in the number of home dates – 11 of their next 12 league matches are at the SSE – and Devils surely need to at least share the points this weekend.
Coach Andrew Lord and his Devils team hold a seven points lead at the top and have a game in hand, while they have suffered only two defeats in their last 21 league games.
More than 500 Devils fans are in Belfast for these top of the table clashes and Keefe says: “Two wins would be great. It would put pressure on Cardiff and close the gap.
“We still have to play Cardiff five times, so I think it will come down to who can win the majority of those games and then do the business against the rest.”
Giants have won twice at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay this season, but Devils came out on top in Belfast.
Keefe’s team were hammered 8-0 by Sheffield Steelers at home in their last league match, but bounced back to beat Nottingham Panthers 5-1 in the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi-final.
The second leg is in Belfast next Wednesday and Keefe said: “We have spoken to the players and told them to go out and have fun.
“These are the games you live to play in. Every player was brought here for a reason and I want them to do what they were brought to do.”
The best home match for Devils is against Steelers in the second leg of the Challenge Cup semi-final at the IAW next Wednesday (7.30pm). Cardiff lost the first leg 6-2 despite outshooting Sheffield 40-29.
To book tickets for Devils matches CLICK HERE or CALL 0800 0842 666 to book, while CLICK HERE for the full fixtures list.
ELITE LEAGUE STANDINGS (ALL TEAMS PLAY 56 MATCHES)
| Rk | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | WPCT | Pts |
| 1 | Cardiff Devils | 38 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 1 | .789 | 60 |
| 2 | Belfast Giants | 39 | 26 | 12 | 1 | 0 | .679 | 53 |
| 3 | Manchester Storm | 39 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 2 | .628 | 49 |
| 4 | Fife Flyers | 34 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 1 | .706 | 48 |
| 5 | Sheffield Steelers | 37 | 22 | 12 | 2 | 1 | .635 | 47 |
| 6 | Guildford Flames | 38 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 2 | .605 | 46 |
| 7 | Nottingham Panthers | 36 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | .625 | 45 |
| 8 | Braehead Clan | 40 | 16 | 20 | 3 | 1 | .450 | 36 |
| 9 | Dundee Stars | 37 | 16 | 18 | 2 | 1 | .473 | 35 |
| 10 | Coventry Blaze | 39 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 1 | .410 | 32 |
| 11 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 39 | 14 | 24 | 1 | 0 | .372 | 29 |
| 12 | Edinburgh Capitals | 38 | 4 | 33 | 0 | 1 | .118 | 9 |
UPDATED STATISTICS FOR DEVILS AFTER THE GAMES PLAYED WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31
This includes all EIHL League and Challenge Cup games so far:
| No | PLAYER | GP | GLS | ASS | PTS | PPG | SHG | GWG | PIM | |
| 88 | Joey Martin | F | 47 | 21 | 42 | 63 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
| 24 | Andrew Hotham | D | 47 | 16 | 31 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 108 |
| 85 | Sean Bentivoglio | F | 47 | 13 | 33 | 46 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 91 |
| 42 | Matt Pope | F | 42 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 44 |
| 18 | Layne Ulmer | F | 47 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| 47 | Jake Morissette | F | 47 | 16 | 22 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 20 | Gleason Fournier | D | 44 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| 23 | Patrick Asselin | F | 41 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| 80 | Paul Crowder | F | 36 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 33 |
| 81 | Justin Faryna | F | 40 | 14 | 6 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 60 |
| 27 | Joey Haddad | F | 32 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 57 |
| 6 | Drew Paris | D | 35 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 |
| 8 | Matthew Myers | F | 47 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 17 | Mark Richardson | D | 42 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 | Bryce Reddick | D | 47 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| 41 | Josh Batch | D | 30 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 55 |
| 71 | Andrew Lord | F | 25 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 25 | Tyson Strachan | D | 36 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| 4 | Mark Louis | D | 33 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 21 | Luke Piggott | F | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 | Tom Rutkis | F | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Craig Moore | D | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Goaltender stats:
| GOALTENDERS | GPI | MINS | SHOTS | G/A | SAVE% | GAA | S/O | W | L | |
| 33 | Ben Bowns | 45 | 2614:19 | 1213 | 113 | 90.7 | 2.59 | 5 | 32 | 12 |
| 30 | Tom Murdy | 6 | 216:00 | 95 | 12 | 87.4 | 3.33 | 0 | 1 | 1 |