Anything can happen in the Elite League playoffs, as the Glasgow Clan proved on night-one with a stunning upset of the Sheffield Steelers.
In the battle between the Elite League’s fourth- and fifth-placed teams, the margin for error is tiny.
The Cardiff Devils and Coventry Blaze enter the postseason in entirely different moods.
The Blaze are buzzing. Cardiff, less so.
With that in mind, let’s dive into this playoff quarter-final preview.
Cardiff Devils, Coventry Blaze chart different paths to the postseason:
The Cardiff Devils and Coventry Blaze enter the playoffs separated by four points and one place in the Elite League standings.
But that is just about where the similarities end.
The Devils started the season with high hopes, opening the campaign with progression in the Continental Cup and an 8-2-0 record in the Elite League.
Pete Russell’s side won the Continental Cup at home in January, but papered over the cracks in doing so.
Cardiff Devils, Continental Cup (Image: James Assinder)
Injuries to key players hampered the Devils around the turn of the years, with the team sinking to a 4-6-0 record in league play through the first five weeks of 2025
Unable to keep pace with the top-three, Cardiff slipped further and further back, finishing the season with a 32-18-4 record, a dozen points behind the title-winning Belfast Giants.
Mac Carruth’s team-issued suspension for a post-game incident versus the Nottingham Panthers added further insult to injury on what was a difficult second half of the season for Cardiff.
Meanwhile at the Skydome Arena, the Coventry Blaze have set about confounding experts and their preseason predictions.
Tipped by some to finish at the bottom of the standings, the Blaze found early chemistry under rookie head coach Kevin Moore and have never looked back.
Chase Gresock, Nick Seitz, and Alessio Luciani finished in the top four for league point-scoring, pulling the Blaze away from the fight to qualify for the playoffs and into the battle for a top-half seeding.
Chase Gresock, Coventry Blaze (Image: Scott Wiggins)
While Coventry were unable to chase down the Devils for fourth, they finished the season with a pair of sugar rush wins, beating Cardiff and the Sheffield Steelers on the final weekend of the campaign to send a statement of intent to their playoff rivals.
The Blaze aren’t to be taken lightly.
Cardiff Devils .vs. Coventry Blaze in numbers:
Cardiff Devils: 32-18-4
Top Scorer: Zach O’Brien (17 goals, 33 assists)]
Top Netminder: Ben Bowns (.927 SV%)
Powerplay: 23.81%
Penalty Kill: 82.23%
Coventry Blaze: 30-20-4
Top Scorer: Chase Gresock (32 goals, 30 assists)
Top Netminder: Mat Robson (.911 SV%)
Powerplay: 25.52%
Penalty Kill: 80.0%
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