Preview vs Blaze; CC Elimination Game

This game will decide the fate of the travelling Devils for the Challenge Cup, even despite having a stack of games in hand early season.

Blaze have been in rampant form of late, however, they have just gone to back to back losses, shipping 11 goals in the process.

Devils meanwhile, scraped a point at home before falling on the road in Nottingham, so it is all up in the air for how things will go in the Skydome later in the evening.

A win in any fashion for the Blaze will secure them promotion to the next stage, avoiding the quarter final leg, aka, ‘play in game’ for what will hopefully be the only and last time this format is run.

For the Devils, it is a must win game to stay within a chance of qualifying before they face down the Panthers at home later on this month (a fixture which should have been counted in pre-season to avoid such a horrific scheduling error by the fixtures automator).

Both of the teams Devils need to beat have also claim a victory against them this season in the cup, so with the current form of both and the knack for drawing out the dagger against their old foe, Blaze will be up for this one.

It has been back to back years of early eliminations for the Devils, crashing out at the 1/4 final stage. Going out in the group itself would be a first.

The last time a cup format had 10 teams, it was incredibly split at 5 each. Blaze were bottom on theirs, with 5 points, Devils mid pack with 8 in 2016/17 season.

As far as form goes, Blaze have a full house in their deck, with 5 wins from their L5GP, including 2 that needed some extras to settle the scores. Devils meanwhile, 2 – 0 – 3, so the pressure as the road team who let their advantage slip away and needing a win to claim a lifeline is all on the them.

Whether you like the cup or not – this is a make or break game for the club as a serious contender for silverware and having a championship, winning mindset. It was absent in their last couple of games.

Ones to Watch

Chase Gresock is the man to watch for the Blaze, as he sits 3rd in cup points overall with 15. He has been a heater for this club and a go too player for net front battles.

November MVP and current heater, Josh MacDonald is the one all fans will be keeping an eye on, as his 10 points in the cup is the current lead for his team. He currently has a 7 game points streak with 10 points from that slate (5G, 5A) and 4 points from his last 3 cup games played.

This isn’t the first time a must win game for Devils was played at the Skydome, for many to remember, they lost their claim to the league title on the final day of the season to Giants with a loss there, with the Brits of the team the only ones who was present at the time (including Joey Martin) – So, will this be a repeat or will the team come good and prove to their critics and themselves they are worthy of challenging this season?