WEEK 15 of the 2024/25 Elite Ice Hockey League season and the Flyers start with a trip to meet the Nottingham Panthers on what should be a poignant night with a ceremony for Adam Johnson’s jersey retiral. On Sunday the Flyers welcome the Coventry Blaze for their first visit of the season to the Auld Barn.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 14th NOTTINGHAM PANTHERS @ MOTORPOINT ARENA – FACE OFF 7.30pm
Recent Form Guide
The last meeting of the teams was the first weekend of November. Since then the Panthers they have been solely in league action with their remaining Challenge Cup fixture taking place on the weekend before Christmas with qualification to the next round already assured. There is the little matter of who they will match up with to be decided when they meet the Cardiff Devils who need at least a point to qualify. A Devils win will see the Panthers in the play in round against Glasgow with any other result seeing Nottingham automatically progress. After their shootout win against the Flyers the Panthers went on to lose their next three matches which has been their longest winless streak of the season. A home 4-2 reversal against the Sheffield Steelers preceded back to back odd goal in 7 losses on the road as the Glasgow Clan and Coventry picked up the points over that weekend. Back at the Motorpoint Arena for a home doubleheader the Panthers then made it a four point weekend with a 3-2 overtime win against the Belfast Giants and a 4-1 win against the visiting Manchester Storm. The game against Belfast saw Jaakko Niskala score and to date it is the only Panthers goal so far from one of their blueliners this season. A trip to Sheffield saw the Panthers win for the first time in over 20 games against their biggest rivals and with a narrow 3-2 Panthers win against the Dundee Stars the following night in Nottingham they had a four game winning streak which so far has been their best this season. Last weekend they picked up a point in a see saw battle with the Guildford Flames at the Spectrum as the home side eventually won in overtime 5-4. Back on home ice the following night they sent the league leading Cardiff Devils back to Wales pointless after a 3-1 win. Before hosting the Flyers this weekend the Panthers start their weekend action with a trip to play the Manchester Storm on Friday night.
Last League Visit to Panthers
Overall Away League Record Against Panthers
P 31 W 10 L 21 F 78 A 102
Number Crunching
The Panthers are the form team at the moment having picked up 11 of 12 points over their last six games.
The Flyers have lost their last three meetings with the Panthers.
Discounting shootout goals the Flyers require three more goals to hit 200 against the Panthers in all EIHL competitions.
Lucas Chiodo and Hugo Roy have both scored in the two meetings between the teams so far this season.
Otto Nieminen has goals in 4 of the last 5 games for the Panthers against the Flyers.
The Panthers have conceded 21% of their goals against total across all EIHL competitions this season in the first period which is lowest amongst all teams.
The Panthers have the third fewest shots on goal with an average of 30.72 whilst Flyers have fastest with 28.9 per game.
The Panthers have the third best goals against total of all teams across all EIHL competitions with 67 conceded which is almost half of the 138 conceded by the Flyers albeit who have played four more games.
Both teams are 1 for 3 on their respective power plays in the two games played this season.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 15th FIFE FLYERS v COVENTRY BLAZE @ FIFE ICE ARENA – FACE OFF 5.15pm
Recent Form Guide
The Flyers and Blaze last met just three weeks ago in Coventry in what was a lopsided win for the Midlands club. The following game the Blaze stretched their winning sequence in the league to four games with a 4-3 win on the road against the Guildford Flames. The Blaze then kept their Challenge Cup hopes alive with a 6-4 home win against the Manchester Storm. The result set up a winner moves on clash with the Cardiff Devils which was played on Wednesday night. The Blaze lost at home to the Devils who kept their qualification hopes alive and the Blaze must now await the outcome of the final game of the group section when the Panthers meet the Devils later this month. If Devils get a point or better the Blaze are eliminated. Returning to the league the Blaze have lost their last two outings when they went down 5-2 Sheffield and last weekend suffered a heavy home defeat as the Giants won 6-1 at the Skydome. Ahead of their trip to Fife the Blaze will be looking to end their three game winless streak when they entertain the Dundee Stars on Saturday night.
Last League Visit from Blaze
Overall League Home Record Against Blaze
P 29 W 16 L 13 F 87 A 72
Number Crunching
The Flyers have lost on their last two visits to the Skydome
Excluding shootout goals the Blaze require three goals to reach 200 against the Flyers in all EIHL competitions
The Blaze share the best winning streak of 6 games with the Giants and Steelers this season.
The Blaze are the only team yet to concede an empty net goal and with 5 empty netters of their own they have second most only to the Steelers.
With 26 power play goals Coventry lead all teams with the man advantage with all but one of those goals scored by forwards.
The Blaze have the third most shots on goal for per game and also the third most against in all EIHL competitions this season.
