NOTTINGHAM Panthers' foray into Europe means they are now playing catch-up in their chase for a second successive Elite League title.
Ahead of their double-header against a resurgent Cardiff Devils this weekend, defending champions Panthers are nine points adrift of leaders Belfast but now have four games in hand following their 4-1 victory over Edinburgh in midweek.
The games are coming thick and fast for Panthers who, after facing Devils in South Wales tomorrow and at home on Sunday (4pm), host Belfast at the NIC on Tuesday and head north next Friday to take on a high-riding Braehead side.
Tomorrow's game again sees Panthers having to play two imports short with Brent Henley and Tuukka Makela seeing off the last of their two-game bans.
But they will both be available for Sunday's return when Nottingham-born Robert Farmer, 22, is expected to make his home debut after flying in from Alaska via Reykjavik.
After Wednesday's game against Edinburgh, which in reality presented no more than a 'warm down' following their exertions in the Continental Cup in Italy, Panthers face a totally different proposition in Cardiff, who are on a high following their two wins last weekend against Hull and Sheffield.
In the first game, especially, when they are depleted, coach Corey Neilson says he may well have to employ the defensive 'trap' system that proved successful in Europe when they send in one forechecker and leave four players in a line in the neutral zone.
He even used the same passive system against Edinburgh to prevent breakaways and in a bid to draw them out of defence but admitted: "The only thing worse than playing one-four is watching one-four and I felt sorry for the fans, but that's what we had to do.
"The biggest thing with Edinburgh is that you have to kill the game because if you try too hard and send players in they can beat you.
"We want to do our own thing as much as we can against Cardiff but we're down on bodies and don't know about the fitness of Lacho (Rob Lachowicz) or whether Farms (Farmer) is going to be in so we'll see.
"You might see the same strategy, but let's see if who we've got available first."
Neilson wasn't too kind about the negative tactics employed by Edinburgh, who were also short of players and rely heavily on the goaltender Tomas Hiadlovsky and breakaways.
"You can't take risks against teams like that but have to sit back and bore the life out of the world so they won't get breakaways and two-on-ones; they won't dump it in, they won't chase.
"It was a shame really because I wanted to play young Ollie (Betteridge) more than I did. But the guys were getting bored and their energy levels were so low just sitting there watching it, that I had to keep bringing them into every second shift.
"The kid played fine but I had to keep the others going. They weren't expending energy, just standing there like pylons, and it's tough to play like that all the time."
Skipper David Clarke – who topped the Continental Cup plus-minus figures in Asiago after scoring three goals – notched his first hat-trick of the season against Edinburgh.
But he says although the players were feeling the after-effects of three games in three days plus the journey back from Italy, the game was perhaps good preparation for Cardiff.
"Being short on bodies and after getting back from Italy late on Monday night it was a tough game to come back to, but we needed it and got the job done," he said.
"So real credit has to go to the guys for staying in there and young Ollie too, who's got the legs and helped take off some of the strain from the guys.
"Cardiff are much improved and they turned over Sheffield last weekend so, as we're going to be a couple of guys down, we've got to find a way to win through the adversity and compete.
"The guys built a lot of confidence as individuals and as a team in Italy and it is important we carry that momentum through into the league campaign."
Tonight: Dundee v Coventry
Tomorrow: Braehead v Edinburgh; Cardiff v PANTHERS (7pm); Fife v Coventry. Cup, Hull v Sheffield.
Sunday: Edinburgh v Coventry; Hull v Braehead; Sheffield v Fife, Dundee v Belfast; Panthers v Cardiff (4pm).
