It was an important and perhaps controversial night in the EIHL as the top two met at the NIC whilst in the EPL it was record breaking game day.
Elite League
Belfast Giants 4 Nottingham Panthers 3 (APS)
The EIHL title race centred on the NIC on Saturday night as the Nottingham Panthers met the Belfast Giants knowing only a win would keep them in the title race.
It was a bad start for the Panthers as the Pelle and Deniset put the Giants on the board early before Francis’s reply kept the home team in the game. Robert Dowd then regained the 2 goal lead before the Panthers fought back through Francis again and the Beauregard to send the game to overtime.
The overtime gave produced no goals only an incident involving Francis a possible penalty shot. The Giants gained the extra point on the penalty shots to put the Giants in a commanding position at the top of the table.
Coventry Blaze 2 Sheffield Steelers 3
Fellow title chasers the Sheffield Steelers were hosting the Blaze at the Motorpoint Arena. It was a tight game that saw the Blaze come back from a goal down to twice through Guthrie before Mike Ramsay hit the winner midway through the third.
The 14th consecutive win against the Blaze keeps the Steelers in the title race and moves them level on points with the Panthers on Saturday night 9 points behind the Belfast side but with 6 games in hand.
Hull Stingrays 4 Dundee Stars 3
At the foot of the table the Hull Stingrays received a massive boost to their playoff hopes as they travelled to Dundee.
Despite the hosts taking the lead three times the Stingrays never gave them much chance to build on it and after Osman equalised for the third time it was Jason Silverthorn who seized the momentum and scored the winner with 6 minutes to go in regulation.
Braehead Clan 7 Fife Flyers 2
Dundee however stay of the foot of the table thanks to Braehead’s dominant display in the second and third periods at the Fife Ice Arena.
Fife struggled to get going and found themselves 4 goals down before Hartmanis got them on the score sheet in the final minute of the second period. However man of the moment Jade Galbraith extinguished any hopes of a Flyers comeback by adding the 5th Clan goal just after the restart. Further goals from Walker and Krestanovich completed the rout with Maxwell adding Fife’s second.
The result leaves the Flyers level on points with Stars at the bottom of the table but more importantly still 6 points off the playoffs.
Edinburgh Capitals 2 Cardiff Devils 5
Edinburgh travelled to Cardiff on Saturday and failed to boost their playoff chances. However it was not all the Devils way as a Rene Jarolin brought the Caps to within a goal going into the third period.
A further goal from Pierce and a second from Phil Hill however settled home fans nerves and sealed the win. That win lifts the Devils 3 points clear of the Blaze in 4th spot in the table.
EPL
Saturday night was a record breaking night for the EPL. The 42 goals scored across the 5 games was the highest number of goals scored in a single day in the EPL’s history, breaking the previous record by 2.
The highest scoring game of the round was at the Link Centre as the Swindon Wildcats did their playoff hopes no harm by coming out 7 – 5 winners over the Basingstoke Bison and snap a six game losing streak.
However the shock of the night was in the 11- goal game as third place Slough hosted the fourth place Sheffield Steeldogs. The dogs came away with an 8 – 2 win to overhaul their rivals and take third place.
There were also 2 ten-goal games as Manchester beat Telford 9 -1 and Guildford beat Peterborough 7 – 3 to remain 6 points clear of Manchester at the top. The tamest game of the night however saw just 5 goals as the Milton Keynes Lightning got the decision against the Bracknell Bees.
Results
EIHL
Coventry Blaze 2 Sheffield Steelers 3
Belfast Giants 4 Nottingham Panthers 3 (APS)
Braehead Clan 7 Fife Flyers 2
Edinburgh Capitals 2 Cardiff Devils 5
Hull Stingrays 4 Dundee Stars 3
EPL
Telford Tigers 1 Manchester Phoenix 9
Sheffield Steeldogs 9 Slough Jets 2
Peterborough Phantoms 3 Guildford Flames 7
Basingstoke Bison 5 Swindon Wildcats 7
Bracknell Bees 2 Milton Keynes 3
Neil Tucker
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