Panthers lead Sheffield Steelers 6-3 going into the home second leg and are full of confidence having hammered them 6-1 in the Elite League at the weekend.

Ellis wants a repeat of those wins but says there is no room for complacency.

"The key for us is solid energy for the whole 60 minutes like we had in our own rink," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"The bounces went our way at times and that got us up.

We've played all our best hockey in the biggest games of the year Mike Ellis

"But from the point we went up we continued and we never stopped. We never looked in that game like we were going to let them back in."

Ellis is also comforted by the fact Panthers are often at their best in the crucial matches.

"We've played all our best hockey in the biggest games of the year," he added.

"But I'm not going to say we're a big-game team yet because we haven't closed it off.

"In that cup we've realised we're playing for silverware and the guys are going hard for it," he added.