Friday night is hockey night at the Storm Shelter, as the Go Goodwins sponsored Manchester Storm take on the league-leading Cardiff Devils in a 7:30 pm faceoff.

It’s a big game for both sides, as Cardiff look to secure their first Elite League title and the Storm aim to cement their place in the playoffs. Cardiff are top of the table, 7 points above Belfast in second place and 8 points ahead of third-placed Sheffield. Manchester still occupy 7th placed in the table, equal on 39 points with Coventry, thanks to their superior record in regulation time over the Blaze. Dundee sit 3 points behind the Storm and the Blaze in 9th place, while Edinburgh are a further 4 points adrift.

Last Weekend: Cardiff started the weekend off with a convincing 8-0 victory at home to the Coventry Blaze. Goals came from Culligan, Doucet, Asselin, Ulmer, Piggott, Kearney, and an Andrew Lord double. Ben Bowns made 20 saves for his third shutout of the regular season. The Devils then travelled to Edinburgh on the Sunday for a tough match in Murrayfield. Despite falling behind 2-1 in the first period the Devils eventually overcame the Capitals 3-2 in overtime. Chris Jones, Patrick Bordeleau, and Joey Haddad getting the goals in a tight affair in the Scottish Capital. Storm hosted Edinburgh on Saturday in a frustrating game, succumbing 5-2 to the Capitals thanks to a late empty-net goal. A Jack Prince double, the second coming from a fantastic Darian Dziurzynski spin-and-pass move, put the Storm 2-1 up after fourteen and a half minutes, before Edinburgh scored four unanswered goals to take both points back home. Storm then travelled to Coventry, and again lead 2-1 before taking a point in shootout loss. It was the turn of Darian Dziurzynski to get a double, but it was the Blaze who secured the shootout victory, the decisive penalty shot coming in the sixth round. Darian Dziurzynski extended his pointstreak to 13 games.

Storm – Devils this season: This is the final meeting between the sides, in what has been an even series thus far. The Devils have secured 4 points from the 3 games, thanks to a 3-2 overtime victory at the Storm Shelter and a 5-3 victory in Cardiff. Manchester have 3 points from the 3 games, winning 3-2 at Ice Arena Wales just before Christmas, as well as securing a point in the first meeting in Altrincham. Mike Clemente has been the star performer for the Storm in the series, saving 103 out of 112 shots, a save percentage of 92.0%. In the Devils net, Ben Bowns has turned away 65 shots, 89.0% of the total. Matt Bissonnette has top scored for the Storm, grabbing 2 goals and 3 assists in the 3 matches, while Andrew Hotham has been the form skater for the Devils, getting 6 assists.

One to watch: Layne Ulmer has been one of Cardiff’s top performers since Christmas. Despite a slow start to the season, he finds himself with 16 goals and 28 assists from 45 games.

MATCH DETAILS:

• Doors open from 6:30 pm
• Face-Off at 7:30 pm
• SOTB this evening is #23 Paul Swindlehurst
• 50/50 & “Chuck A Puck” will also be running! Buy your tickets from sellers around the rink!
• Tickets for the game can be bought from HERE
• Webcast for the game can be found & ordered HERE
• Storm will be in our BLACK home jerseys
• Jacks Bar will be open post game until 11 pm!
• There will be FREE ice skating & skate hire post game until 11 pm WITH a purchased match ticket!