The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze continued their red-hot form with a 1-2 penalty shootout victory over the Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to eight games.
Blaze travelled to Nottingham without defenceman David Clements and forwards Jack Hopkins and Artie Buzoverya, while the Panthers were missing Josh Tetlow and Johnny Curran, with all five players representing their countries at the European Cup of Nations in Edinburgh.
After a relatively sluggish opening, the tempo lifted midway through the first period. Matt Alfaro was called for cross-checking before Zsombor Garat quickly followed him to the penalty box, handing Blaze a 5-on-3 powerplay for 1.16.
The best chance of the advantage fell to Grant Mismash. A sharp passing move with Jere Vertanen pulled Jason Grande out of position in the Panthers net, but Mismash fired narrowly wide. Coventry continued to apply pressure, though the Panthers dug deep to kill the penalties before earning a late powerplay of their own to close out a scoreless opening period.
It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken in the second. At 23.25, Mismash’s heavy shot rebounded out to Grayson Constable, who finished neatly to put Blaze ahead 0-1.
Just seconds later, Constable had a golden opportunity to double the lead on a breakaway, but as he moved in on Grande he lost control and the puck slid off his stick. William Boysen then went close for the Panthers, only for Jarod Hilderman to take a slashing penalty to deny the chance.
The Panthers eventually tied the game on a delayed penalty. Brendan Harris converted on the 6-on-5 play, finishing off a superb feed from Mitch Fossier with Jakob Stridsberg also picking up an assist.
Physicality increased around the halfway mark of the contest, with Blaze’s Connor Russell and Kim Tallberg involved with Panthers’ Alfaro and Tim Doherty, a sequence that resulted in a Nottingham powerplay.
Coventry had goaltender Mat Robson to thank for heading into the second intermission level. The Canadian produced a stunning save with just 35 seconds remaining to keep the score at 1-1 through 40 minutes of play.
Blaze had a huge 3-on-1 opportunity early in the third period, but Panthers defenceman Spencer did brilliantly to disrupt the rush and strip the puck from Matthew Gleason. The action remained end-to-end, with Coventry carving out the better early chances, Grande denying Constable at the back post with an excellent stop.
Nottingham were handed a pair of powerplays inside the final ten minutes as they pushed for a winner, but Robson stood firm, his biggest saves coming from efforts by Ollie Betteridge and Fossier.
With regulation ending tied at 1-1, the game moved into sudden-death overtime. Coventry controlled much of the 3-on-3 play but were unable to find the decisive goal, sending the contest to a penalty shootout.
Robson was outstanding for Blaze, stopping all five Nottingham attempts, while Adam Robbins struck the winner in the fifth round to seal a 1-2 shootout victory and keep Coventry’s winning run alive.
Photo credit: Panthers Images
