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Saturday 28th February: Belfast Giants (3rd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) @ Odessy Arena F/O 7pmSunday 1st March: Excel Hull Stingrays (9th) v Nottingham Panthers (4th) @ Hull Arena F/O 6pm
Form
Stingrays- W L L L L
Belfast- L OTL PSW W W
Nottingham-W PSL PSL L W
Last 3 Meetings
v Belfast
30/11/08 5-4 W H
18/12/08 8-2 L A
28/12/08 3-4 OTL H
v Nottingham
23/11/08 4-5 PSL A
18/01/09 2-3 W A
08/02/09 1-5 L H
Season Series
v Belfast: 2-3, 5 points, 17GF, 23GA
v Nottingham: 1-4, 1 draw, 4 points, 16GF, 27GA
Man of the Moment
Stingrays- Matt Reynolds (42GP 21+24)- Scored a goal against the Sheffield Steelers in his second game back from a broken finger in the Stingrays narrow 4-2 loss, and is second on the team in goals and points despite missing nine games due to the injury.
Belfast- Andrew Martin (28GP 20+23)- Had a part in seven of the Giants eight goals against Basingstoke on Wednesday in their 8-4 win where he recorded two goals and five assists. Has missed 28 games for the Giants this season and has managed to average over 1.5 points a game.
Nottingham- Jade Galbraith (47GP 20+35)- Has scored 13 points in the Panthers last seven games and has scored three goals in four games against the Stingrays this season.
Absentees
Stingrays- Paul Moran (shoulder), Antti Turunen (upper body), Stuart Kerr (knee)
Belfast- Full Strength
Nottingham- Dan Tessier (knee), David Clarke, Matt Myers (knee), Danny Meyers (shoulder)
Other news
-After being on the recieving end of one of Konstantin Kalmikov's "NHL calibre" shots, Antti Turunen spent the early part of this week both coughing up blood and in and out of hospital.
Finn Turunen, who joined as injury cover in the depths of the Rays injury crisis and been both solid and consistent for the team, has now been released from hospital but will not play this weekend after suffering a suspected bruised rib.
- The Stingrays losses in their embarrassing display on Saturday and somewhat better display on Sunday was the first time in 2009 that the Rays have gone a weekend without a point. Prior to the 2009 run the team went six games without a win but since the turn of the year the Stingrays push for a playoff place had really kicked in with 13 points in 13 games.
- Sunday's game against the Nottingham Panthers will face off at the later time of 6pm due to the teams expected late arrival from Belfast.
- During Sunday's game Jason Kostadine may be a marked man by Panthers tough guy Rumun Ndur. After dropping the gloves with Panthers captain Danny Meyers in the Rays 5-1 loss at home three weeks ago, Meyers suffered a dislocated shoulder. It is expected that Ndur, who is in the lineup after an injury to import Dan Tessier, will look to rough up Kostadine in the same way he attempted to rough up Rick Kozak after an early season incident that left Ndur's teammate, Marc Levers, requiring stitches to a head injury.
Predictions
Belfast 3-1 Stingrays
Stingrays 2-1 Nottingham
