Valentine’s Day saw the Belfast Giants make a public declaration of love: Adam Keefe’s side are infatuated with winning and took another decisive step towards the title.
The Giants won 4-2 over the Nottingham Panthers in the East Midlands, edging out Danny Stewart’s squad to move six points clear at the top of the regular-season standings.
It was a night of change in the top-four: the Cardiff Devils fell by a 5-2 score against the Sheffield Steelers, which saw Aaron Fox’s squad vault over the Panthers into third.
In the battle for playoff seedings, the Guildford Flames were the night’s biggest losers.
The Coventry Blaze continued their blistering form with a 6-2 win over the Dundee Stars, while the Manchester Storm topped the Glasgow Clan in a shootout.
Guildford, meanwhile, fell to the last-placed Fife Flyers.
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every Elite League team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Saturday, 14 February
Cardiff Devils 2-5 Sheffield Steelers
Around the Rinks: Matthew Greenfield, Sheffield Steelers (Image: James Assinder)
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
You don’t want to lose at home to a fellow contender. The difference in this game is that they executed at a higher level, offensively. It’s that simple. On our mistakes, it’s in the back of our net. On their mistakes, it isn’t. That’s the game.
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
I thought that was gutsy tonight. I was a little bit worried in the first five minutes because we didn’t have our feet moving and Cardiff were on the hunt. I was a little concerned after they went 1-0 up, but the powerplay goal settled us down a bit, and we pushed on from there. That third goal was huge for us. [Matthew Greenfield] made a couple of big saves to seal it.
Coventry Blaze 6-2 Dundee Stars
Around the Rinks: Bradley Schoonbaert, Dundee Stars (Image: Scott Stevens)
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
It was a pretty good game: our guys came out hard and fast [because] we wanted to establish some presence in the house early. That allowed us to gain confidence as the game went on. Offensively, different guys were able to contribute, which is really good. Guys were hunting down pucks, but our forecheck was up and down. I’m pretty happy with it.
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
It was a game 0f two halves: we were pretty good for the first half an hour and went up 2-1, but we missed on a breakaway, they scored going the other way, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. We collapsed like we usually do. I called a timeout to calm things down, but we never redeemed our focus.
There were some efforts by some guys that were unacceptable. We’ve got to make a decision here: some guys have to decide if they want to play here the rest of the season. Just go home: it’s not going to hurt my feelings. They’ve just got to give a total effort and act like they care.
Full credit to the Blaze, they’ve been playing really good hockey over the last month, but we just self-destruct. We’re our own worst enemy at time and the last thirty minutes was another example of that.
Fife Flyers 4-3 Guildford Flames
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
Incredibly proud of our group. Without getting into too much detail, what they put up with this week, the way they played for each other and got that done was amazing. I thought Mason [Alderson] was terrific: he’s been outstanding in practice and he’s enjoying the game. I really liked our five-on-six: we had poise and played the puck in the right areas.
In the second period, our puck management wasn’t good. It wasn’t physical, it was mental, and with what we’ve had to deal with this week that’s not unexpected.
Paul Dixon, Guildford Flames:
I’m hugely disappointed. We came into the final period 3-1 up, but we just dismantled through five minutes. Mistake after mistake and the momentum was back with Fife.
They deserve a lot of credit. It’s obviously been a rough couple of weeks for the Flyers and sometimes that adversity can galvanise a team. I think that was evident tonight: they had a good first period and they were the better team in the third period.
The one thing I’ll say from our standpoint is that we can’t make the mistakes that allowed Fife to score their second, third, and fourth goals. It’s hard at this stage in the season, we shouldn’t be making those mistakes, but we’ve got to dust ourselves down and be better tomorrow against Cardiff.
Manchester Storm 3-2 Glasgow Clan (Shootout)
Around the Rinks: Liam Souliere, Glasgow Clan (Image: Mark Ferriss)
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
I thought our guys battled really hard. We really needed to grind that one out. I thought their goaltending stood on his head tonight. Loren Ullet had a big goal, it’s good to see Drew DeRidder back in net, and I want the guys to enjoy this win.
Mike Sirant, Glasgow Clan:
It was quite a series this weekend against Manchester: two exciting games between two teams that play hard against each other. I’m quite disappointed not to get the two points tonight, it’s tough to lose in a shootout, but one point is huge and will help us climb up the table.
I thought we played really well tonight. Historically, we haven’t played well in this rink, but I’ll give our guys credit. They played a smart and efficient game.
Nottingham Panthers 2-4 Belfast Giants
Around the Rinks: Scott Conway, Belfast Giants (Image: Panthers Images)
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
I thought it was a close game with fine margins. In the third, we had the puck, didn’t make it out, they hit the bar and it goes in. Later, we hit the bar and it bounces out.
It was a tough start to the game, killing off three to start, which had us on the back foot. We were much better in the second period. I didn’t like giving up the second goal out of nothing, but we did a great job coming out in the third.
We had some looks to tie the game but couldn’t find a way through.
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
First of all, I thought it was a great game, with a lot at stake for both teams. I thought everybody played a part tonight. It took us a while to really solve [Kevin] Carr and it was shots around his feet and rebounds that did it.
There were some good performances from some guys, but everyone played a part and that’s what you want to see at this time of the year. I’m happy with our effort from start to finish and I’d have been gutted for the players if it went the other way.
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