Leeds Knights: Prospect of being NIHL National's Christmas No 1 offers added incentive against Bees IHC

Whether that remains the case come Sunday night will be out of their hands as second-placed Peterborough Phantoms know a four-point weekend for themselves will be enough to see them leapfrog Leeds and be installed at the top of the tree.

It would see Leeds – who have a one-game weekend at home to second-bottom Bees IHC – replaced at the top of the standings for the first time this season.

But it matters little, both in the grand scheme of things and for where we find ourselves in the campaign, the Knights with 32 regular season games still remaining after Saturday night’s visit to Elland Road Ice Arena from the Bees.

“If that happens, it happens,” said Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge. “It’s not about where we are in the standings now, it’s where we are at the end of the season that obviously matters.

“We know we’ve got a couple of games in hand so hopefully we’ll be able to pull any deficit back at some point if we find ourselves trailing. But we’re not really focussed on that at the moment.”

The Knights were able to remain ahead of the chasing pack courtesy of a thrilling come-from-behind win at home to Peterborough last Saturday, Cole Shudra tipping in late on to force overtime before firing the winner to seal a 6-5 triumph.

Peterborough dropped points the following night, too, when they went down 3-2 in overtime on home ice to Swindon Wildcats, the only team to beat Leeds in regulation this season so far.

Their second point of the weekend was enough to keep them level at the top with the Knights, but Aldridge’s team do have two games in hand.

Aldridge felt there was much to admire in his team’s performance against Peterborough, considering they were six bodies down through a combination of unavailability and injury. The debut of defenceman Thomas Barry against his former club was another thing which stood out for the Knights’ boss, including his assist on Cole Shudra’s game-tying goal with less than three minutes to go.

“He’s brought something good into our locker room, he’s very positive,” said Aldridge. “The boys were happy to have him on board, there were smiles on the faces of the boys that knew him. Everybody I spoke to said he’s a great lad and the kind that you need in your room and then on the ice he played really well.

“He’s come here with plenty of experience at this level, he obviously played at Peterborough at the start of the year and they are a good team, so he knows what is expected.”

Leeds head into Saturday night’s clash with the Bees (face-off 6.30pm) still missing defensive pair Sam Zajac and Jordan Griffin, as well as the quartet away on international duty at the IIHF World Championships in Lithuania with GB Under-20s , Carter Hamill, Archie Hazeldine, Oliver Endicott and Tate Shudra.

TONIGHT sees Leeds Knights stage its Annual Teddy Bear Toss at Elland Road Ice Arena.

At last year’s event, Knights fans donated a massive 397 teddies to children over the Christmas period. This year the club will once again be donating the bears to Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) – www.chsf.org.uk. – who provide life-saving medical equipment for the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit (LCHU), vital ward resources and family support including parent accommodation.

To take part, simply purchase a teddy bear and put it in a bag to protect it from the ice. Then, when the Knights score their first goal of the game, throw your teddies on the ice to celebrate.