DOUG CHRISTIANSEN predicted Edinburgh Capitals' Elite League play-off campaign would go to the wire – and it has.
Three games remain of the Murrayfield club's extensive 54-game programme.
First up is a trip to Newcastle Vipers tonight with a face-off at 7.15pm, the same time as play-off rivals Hull Stingrays visit sixth-placed Manchester Phoenix.
Capitals
then host Manchester on Saturday (6pm) while Hull entertain fifth-placed Cardiff Devils and Edinburgh travel to Hull, who are ninth, on Sunday for what could be the ultimate showdown (6pm).
Hull thrashed Basingstoke Bison 8-1, the southern English side's 25th straight defeat, on Sunday, so their confidence is up. But there is no doubt that Capitals are in the box seat with 38 points from their 51 games, having won 16 and lost 35. Hull have 35 points from the same number of games and could finish with 41 points if they win all their games.
Capitals could end with 44 points if they end with three straight wins but Christiansen believes two wins in three matches would suffice.
Mark Garside and Neil Hay are both expected to be fit for tonight's clash despite not completing Sunday's 4-2 win at Coventry.
There was no hiding Christiansen's satisfaction at the result against the now deposed league champions, Sheffield Steelers having been confirmed as this year's winners at the weekend.
That means Capitals should play Sheffield if they hold off Hull for the coveted eighth and final play-off position but 180 minutes of tense ice hockey stands between them and their target. Newcastle also go into this crunch clash on a high having recorded their first win on Manchester ice in the league this season on Sunday.
The 5-3 road victory puts the inconsistent Tyneside team in a strong position to finish in seventh place in the final standings, a position they have been in since mid-November.
And, if they hold onto their position they will play who ever finishes in second spot. That's between second-placed Coventry and third-placed Nottingham Panthers, with Belfast Giants, who are fourth, outsiders.
Newcastle's dangermen include winger Derek Campbell, who opened the scoring at Manchester with his 21st goal of the season.
Former NHL and Scottish Eagles star Ed Courtenay missed a penalty shot early on but his experience should count in a game like this.
He has scored 17 goals since joining the club after the start of the campaign.
Feisty David Longstaff, who has netted 20 times this term, cannot be discounted.
Heartening news for Capitals is that Newcastle's power play failed to function on Sunday. They had three opportunities and failed to make any of them count.
Sunday's second-period surge, when Capitals fired four unanswered goals, has given everybody at the club a massive boost and could prove pivotal in their play-off ambitions.
Another plus for Capitals is that they converted two of their five powerplay chances against Coventry. The form of Capitals' No.1 netminder Pasi Raitanen has proved crucial in recent weeks and he dealt with 51 shots at The Skydome while former Capitals netminder J F Perras handled 33.
Raitanen will, undoubtedly, have a key role in the run-in, with Saturday's home clash with Manchester a must-win.
