The Belfast Giants, if they beat the Coventry Blaze this coming Wednesday at the SSE Arena, will faceoff against the Nottingham Panthers in the Challenge Cup final and with home ice advantage too.

The Panthers beat the Sheffield Steelers at the Utilita Arena, despite a spirited Steelers fight back, to book their final, thanks to an overtime winner from Bryan Lemos.

Belfast Giants head coach Adam Keefe said that, while they would be keeping a close eye on last night's scoreline, their focus remains firmly on the second leg of the Challenge Cup against Coventry.

He said: “It’s something exciting that’s happening in the league for sure. So we will keep an eye on the game.

placeholder image — Belfast Giants’ head coach Adam Keefe. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

“But the result in that game really has no bearing on our game on Wednesday in terms, we know that we need to win that hockey game if we are to move on to the final.

“Our focus will be on that game but we will worry about that after this weekend and get our preparation done ahead of next Wednesday.”

Keefe believes that goalie Jake Kupsky has had positive impact on the Giants since he joined the squad a couple of weeks back. Keefe says that he's happy with the goalie lineup, despite missing number one goalie Jackson Whistle to injury.

He said: “He has had a good last two games. I also thought that Gravy (Alexis Gravel) also played two solid games the previous weekend in the double header against Nottingham on the road.

“He helped us take the full four points in that double header weekend, which was no easy feet.

“We are comfortable with our goalies, Jake had a very solid weekend last week.”

With fourteen games remaining to be played in the league the chase for this season’s title is truly hotting up.

Keefe said: “We want to keep ourselves at the top of the league. But admittedly that is sometimes easier to be said than be done.

“We need to stay focused and play one game at a time, we want to keep focused on what is in front of us and not think to far ahead.

“We know that it’s going to be difficult, everyone on this league are going to be wanting to take points of us and knock us down a peg or two. We need to be prepared for everybody’s best.

“So long as we remain focused on ourselves and playing our game, we have the best chance of anyone in the league to take the title.”

Earlier in the week Sheffield Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox had told the British Ice Hockey website Elite League’s top four to make the Belfast Giants “earn” the title.

Keefe responded: “The reality is that there is no easy run into a title. The league is an eight month process.

“While we are currently sitting in a good spot in the league, there is still a long way to go yet.

“We have to face all the teams who are chasing us right now. We have three games against Sheffield, starting this week, and Cardiff in the home double header next weekend.

“We also still have to play Nottingham another two games. Then you also have all the other teams in the league, they all want to take points of us.”

The Belfast Giants plays the Sheffield Steelers on Friday at the SSE Arena with a faceoff time of 7pm.