Coventry Blaze host Belfast Giants in the first leg of their semi-final series, with the return leg a week away in Belfast. The score after 60 minutes tonight will be carried over to that match. There will be no overtime or shootout if the teams are tied at the end of tonight’s game.
Coventry have been one of the in-form sides in the competition since the start of the year and have yet to suffer a regulation defeat in 2026. They saw their eight-game unbeaten streak ended at the hands of the Giants on Sunday, giving up a four-goal lead in an overtime defeat.
Belfast top the league and come into the match on the back of three consecutive wins. Before that, they had won eight in a row before sliding to a pair of one-point losses. Their last regular season loss came on January 4 against the Blaze.
Coventry and Belfast have met three times previously in the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup. In two of those three meetings, the first leg in Coventry ended in a 1-1 draw, while the Blaze emerged victorious 3-2 in 2021.
Coventry eliminated the Giants 5-4 on aggregate the last time they appeared in a cup quarter-final in 2023/24, while the Giants won a semi-final in 2008/09 and a quarter-final in 2022/23.
Photo: Scott Stevens
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