Cardiff Devils will face a Belfast Giants team in a dangerous, mean mood at the SSE Arena in Northern Ireland this weekend.
Coach Adam Keefe described his teams performance in a crushing 5-0 defeat at Glasgow Clan as ‘rubbish’ and will demand a huge reaction against Devils.
The top two clash on Friday and Saturday in matches which will go a long way towards deciding who is crowned British ice hockey champions this season.
Devils are going for a third successive title, which would be a unique achievement, but hosts Belfast have the best home record in Elite League.
Cardiff fought out two fast and furious matches against MK Lightning last weekend, winning 6-5 at home and 6-4 away to open a three-point lead at the top.
They also have a game in hand on second-placed Giants, but will be without key forward Sean Bentivoglio on Friday as he completes a two-match suspension.
Keefe was scathing in his criticism of Giants players after that devastating evening in Scotland on Sunday, saying: “Clan outworked us, outskated us and outbattled us,.
“We weren’t good in many areas, to be honest, so we’ll just have to throw that game in the garbage because that’s not a good enough effort.
“It’s disappointing in the league title race to show up with that kind of effort. We have two pretty big games coming up so we have to forget it, regroup and be ready to go on Friday.”
Reaction: Tim Wallace & Andrew Lord following @cardiffdevils's 6-4 win away to @MKLightning #EIHL pic.twitter.com/jjroJfHOBO
— Elite Ice Hockey League | #EIHL (@officialEIHL) February 17, 2019
It was the first time Giants have been shut-out this season. They could not find a way past Clan netminder Joel Rumpel, who turned away all 31 shots died at him.
Belfast’s powerplay was 0-for-5 in Glasgow and Keefe will think long and hard about his team selection against Cardiff.
He called up Jonathan Ferland, a healthy scratch in the previous two fixtures, in place of Darcy Murphy, who had a goal and three assists over two matches against Clan in Belfast.
But the Giants’ offence failed to function and Keefe made it clear to his players he expects a massive improvement against Devils.
This is week 25 of 30 in the Elite League season and Cardiff have 14 fixtures left in their bid to keep the title.
Elite League fixtures from Wednesday to Sunday:
Wednesday, February 20: Guildford Flames v Milton Keynes Lightning (7.30pm); Manchester Storm v Dundee Stars (7.30pm); Nottingham Panthers v Coventry Blaze (7.30pm); Sheffield Steelers v Glasgow Clan (7.30pm).
Friday, February 22: Belfast Giants v Cardiff Devils (7pm).
Saturday, February 23: Belfast Giants v Cardiff Devils (7pm); Milton Keynes Lightning v Manchester Storm (7pm); Nottingham Panthers v Glasgow Clan (7pm); Sheffield Steelers v Coventry Blaze (7pm); Fife Flyers v Dundee Stars (7.15pm);
Sunday, February 24: Coventry Blaze v Fife Flyers (5.15pm); Manchester Storm v Sheffield Steelers (5.30pm); Guildford Flames v Glasgow Clan (6pm).
ELITE ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE 2018/19
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA | PIM | STREAK |
| Cardiff Devils | 46 | 34 | 7 | 5 | 73 | .793 | 188 | 122 | 533 | 2-0 |
| Belfast Giants | 47 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 70 | .745 | 185 | 119 | 603 | 0-1 |
| Glasgow Clan | 47 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 60 | .638 | 170 | 140 | 605 | 1-0 |
| Nottingham Panthers | 50 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 57 | .570 | 152 | 157 | 796 | 0-1 |
| Guildford Flames | 49 | 24 | 20 | 5 | 53 | .541 | 157 | 152 | 604 | 3-0 |
| Sheffield Steelers | 49 | 24 | 22 | 3 | 51 | .520 | 147 | 165 | 681 | 0-1 |
| Fife Flyers | 45 | 22 | 18 | 5 | 49 | .544 | 147 | 154 | 647 | 0-2 |
| Dundee Stars | 47 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 48 | .511 | 133 | 160 | 445 | 1-0 |
| Coventry Blaze | 45 | 20 | 18 | 7 | 47 | .522 | 164 | 179 | 577 | 2-0 |
| Manchester Storm | 48 | 20 | 23 | 5 | 45 | .469 | 139 | 166 | 1011 | 0-5 |
| Milton Keynes Lightning | 47 | 12 | 31 | 4 | 28 | .298 | 115 | 183 | 845 | 0-2 |
Glasgow Clan and Guildford Flames are conference champions.
Clan have won the Gardiner Conference title and were presented with the trophy after their 5-0 win over League title-chasing Belfast Giants.
“The fans here are awesome, I used to come here as an away coach and I couldn’t believe the atmosphere,” said Clan’s Peter Russell.
“Hopefully we can kick on and keep finding our groove.”
Guildford have lifted the Patton Conference trophy and coach Paul Dixon said: “To do it in front of your home fans is massive for us. This is why you play, why you coach, and why you’re in the game – to win trophies.
“I’m really happy for the players, I see them every day and the effort they put in. The room was buzzing.”
In the Erhardt Conference Cardiff Devils and Belfast are level on 14 points going into their double header at the SSE Arena in Northern Ireland on Friday and Saturday.”
ERHARDT CONFERENCE
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA |
| Cardiff Devils | 14 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 19 | .793 | 52 | 40 |
| Belfast Giants | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 19 | .745 | 56 | 42 |
| Nottingham Panthers | 18 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 17 | .570 | 48 | 63 |
| Sheffield Steelers | 14 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 13 | .520 | 41 | 52 |
GARDINER CONFERENCE
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA |
| Glasgow Clan | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 17 | .638 | 37 | 17 |
| Dundee Stars | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 10 | .511 | 25 | 36 |
| Fife Flyers | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | .544 | 19 | 28 |
PATTON CONFERENCE
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | PCT | GF | GA |
| Guildford Flames | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 25 | .541 | 64 | 39 |
| Coventry Blaze | 14 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 15 | .522 | 56 | 62 |
| Manchester Storm | 14 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 14 | .469 | 40 | 49 |
| Milton Keynes Lightning | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 8 | .298 | 28 | 38 |