Belfast Giants, the only challengers to Cardiff Devils for the Elite League title, travel to Coventry Blaze for a crunch match this evening (Wednesday).

Devils coach Andrew Lord and his players, though, won’t be focused on events at the Skydome in Coventry.

Cardiff remain in control of their own destiny and know that if they earn at least three points out of four in their final two matches this weekend they will be crowned champions for a third successive season.

They slipped up at Dundee Stars last Sunday, going down 3-1 against the Scottish club, and Lord says: “We have to come out better than ever against MK Lightning at home on Saturday.

“Lightning are a great team with one heck of a goaltender (Patrick Killeen) and then have a ton of speed. 

“We have to come out better than we did against Dundee and play for 60 minutes minimum.”It was a tough defeat against Stars. Their goalie (Pontus Sjogren) was incredible and stood on his head.

“We didn’t have much jump, while Stars had a ton of jump, playing fast and we’re good on the counter.

“They scored first and that changed the dynamic of the game against a trap team. We threw kitchen sink at them in third and could not come up with equaliser.”

Devils play Lightning in front of a sell-out attendance at the Viola Arena in Cardiff Bay before travelling to Coventry Blaze on Sunday.

Giants have a game in hand and play that against Blaze tonight before finishing their season with home fixtures against Fife Flyers and Dundee this weekend.

If Devils take three or more points this weekend – they will win the title. That is because the maximum number of points the Giants can get to is 92, with the Devils currently on 90.

Cardiff need to drop at least two points, one loss in regulation or two losses in overtime, to open the door for the Giants to take the title.

In the situation where Devils did drop two points – the Giants would need to win all of their three tough remaining games to force a tiebreaker.

If the Giants and Devils are tied on points – the tiebreakers are as follows:

◦Total number of games won in regulation (Currently: Giants 36, Devils 37)

◦Total number of all games won (Currently: Giants 42, Devils 42)

◦The points won between the Giants and Devils – which the Giants lead having taken eight points in this season’s series (4 wins) with the Devils picking up six points (2 wins + 1 OT loss + 1 SO loss)

Elite League table