Weekend Preview; The Final Touches

League Record So Far; 36 – 13 – 3, 75pts, 2nd Place

Devils host Blaze and then hit the road to Glasgow to finish off the 23/24 regular season before the playoffs begin.

Implications

The road to the EIHL playoffs will face some more dramatic twists and turns and despite Devils being locked as 2nd seed, their opponents are battling for not just a place in this years final showcase for POFW in Nottingham, but also to preserve some pride for what has been dismal seasons for both of the opponents.

Some might say massive disappointments.

Clan and Blaze are one point and place apart in the dog fight for the playoffs, whilst Devils need to be careful and not get caught sleeping in this final throw down before proceedings begin for the Road to Nottingham.

No one knows yet who 2nd will face, as it is not just between their opponents to wrap up the final order, 6th to 9th are just one point apart and Nottingham need to win both of their games to stand a chance of clinching a playoff berth.

This will be one for the ages and for the first time in a long time, destiny could be settled by the will of the Devils. Lets get into this.

Tale of the Tape vs Blaze

First up is the last home game of the regular season against 9th placed Blaze, who would be desperate to not lose to their old rivals and be potentially consigned to an early off-season.

This would be a game for Devils to really focus and for those who remember the heartbreak of the final day of the 18/19 season, revenge would be sweet to put this on them.

This would of course depend on results elsewhere, however the extra push to keep them rooted out of playoffs would satisfy those who were present at the Skydome on that fateful day.

A win for Blaze would put them into contention when they need it most to get into the playoff picture before the season draws to a close, however, going by their recent form, they are rock bottom and have been for at least 25 games.

The series so far is lead by a single win, 3:2 in favour of the good guys with 23 GS against 10 for the Blaze. There have been some spankings in this series, all at the hands of the Devils as Blaze, caught in a deep rut, got routed back to back then hammered 5-3 not long after.

Their 1-0 win snapped a streak in their last game, which slowed down the Welsh Juggernaut that was building at the time.

Scoring however has been a major issue for the visitors, they are rock bottom in GS with 138, where as the home side have logged over 200 goals so far in this campaign.

The scoring average sits favourably for Devils at 4.4 against 3, which massively reflects seasonal total. Blaze have a measly 2.65 GFA, where as Devils sit at 3.88 GFA.

This should be a game where the averages tell the final outcome, but for desperate teams, this is where they are at their most unpredictable.

Tale of the Tape vs Clan

The final game of the regular 23/24 season sees a road trip for the good guys to a stomping ground of theirs that should be known as the Devils crash pad. The series so far sees just one win needed for the Welsh outfit to complete a full sweep of their Scottish rivals, in a series that is very one sided.

More so than with Blaze, GS sit heavily in favour of the Devils at 21:5 – an impressive stat.

The only fortune Clan have had against their Welsh foes is the Challenge Cup upset, which presumably kept their coach in a job.

Clan are one point adrift from Blaze and sit in the last playoff spot, as both teams hope for slip ups against their respective opponent on this final weekend of regular season hockey.

A loss on the final day could make or break Clans season, however, other results would need to be played out before this could be confirmed.

In contrast to being unable to score, Clan have the worst GA record in the league this season with 220 goals conceded. Even a very amateur statto in the twittersphere has been tracking this vs the league leaders in scoring, with Steelers edging this by +7. Good stuff.

Devils have a similar scoring average in this series, again slightly higher than their seasonal average with 4.2, whilst Clan being shut out twice in 5 games vs the good guys have a scoring average of just one goal.

The road team in this fixture are looking to smother their opponents and close out their own season as strong as possible to build momentum going into playoffs, so whilst not a settled deal yet, they do stack up as heavy favourites in both contests.

Special Teams

For special teams, both sit respective to their league positions on the power play with Devils at 26.88% and Blaze at 17.47% respectively. For the PK, this is a different story, one that might reflect Coventrys overall OT record.

Blaze on the PK sit 2nd overall at 82.66%, with Devils at 4th with 79.62%. This almost mirrors their positions for PIMS/Game Averages, with Blaze third at 8.87 PIMS/G and Devils in 9th with 12.87 PIMS/G. Dundee the worst, considering their last game with Devils, we can see why.

How does it reflect the OT record for Blaze? 12 OTWs and 6 OTLs speak volumes, as it is clear they have had a lot of games go down to the wire, the most in the league for the OTW, with only the top two teams having less than 6 games in a loss with extra hockey all season.

Blaze may not have had a good season, but they can be hard to beat.

Clan meanwhile sit 3rd for the power play, which is decent considering their season, at 24.65% they do pose a threat when given the opportunity.

Conversely, their PK% is the leagues worst, at total hour show of 74.23%, which goes to show that not only do they lack players to get chippy and win physically, they struggle to maintain their special team system whilst defending penalties. This will be key this weekend.

Clan have killed the most penalties between these teams with 163 PK’s. Blaze seen the least with 140 and Devils not far off with 157 PK’s, though for overall discipline, it is fair to say they [Devils] have also faced more questionable ejections, but do give good value for off the puck entertainment when needed.

Ones to Watch

Joey Martin; The GOAT secured some big milestone energy of late and netted another hat trick in his last game, his current tally is 27 points in his last 28GP. His last 5 GP has seen a slight slump after a 3 game drought, which was almost reset with his latest hat trick, one of two since his injury return on New Years day.

Cole Sanford; He sits 4 points from 60 this regular season and currently rests 2nd overall for goals scored in the EIHL (27). He had a recent 12 game drought in goals, but has since hit some good form again, although he was still ticking over with apples here and there.

Gary Haden; The other player in joint second for goals scored, Haden has been a rare ray of light in the massive emptiness that has been the Glasgow Clan season, making him a dangerous prospect for this weekend. Will he get on the board and secure his team a playoff berth?

Ian McNulty; Unsurprisingly, Blaze do not have much on offer for standouts, however this player is one point shy of a genuine seasonal milestone (50), which makes him a prospect to keep an eye on this weekend. Contrast to Panthers previous season, where their best scorer had 38, will he help his team avoid the embarrassment of a early off-season?

Expected Line Up for Devils

I would expect no changes from the last couple weeks of games, with a 7 man D being rotated potentially and some legs missing.

Those being the obvious Josh Waller and Tyler Busch.

Also, Cole Ully who is apparently day to day, but yet to feature in the line up again since his knock a few weeks ago.