The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze produced a sensational second-leg performance to secure their place in the Challenge Cup Final, defeating the Belfast Giants 3-6 on the night and 5-9 on aggregate in front of a stunned SSE Arena crowd.
Blaze started the game brightly and created the better of the early opportunities, but Giants goaltender Jake Kupsky stood firm with a series of solid saves.
Belfast received the first powerplay opportunity just over five minutes into the game, but Coventry’s penalty kill was excellent and limited the Giants to very little.
The hosts opened the scoring at 10.42 when British forward Brandon Whistle produced a superb individual effort, pulling off a stunning toe-drag to evade the Blaze defence before feeding Carsen Twarynski, who finished into the wide-open net to make it 1-0 on the night and tie the aggregate score at 3-3.
Coventry responded late in the period. At 17.36 Matthew Gleason capitalised on a Giants defensive error, using his speed to win the race to a loose puck and break clear on goal before finishing expertly on the breakaway to tie the game at 1-1 and restore Blaze’s one-goal aggregate advantage.
Blaze continued to push early in the second period and earned their first powerplay at 23.43, with Kupsky again called into action to produce an excellent save to deny Gleason his second of the night.
Gleason would not be denied for long, however. At 30.34 he struck again, reacting quickest to a loose puck and firing through traffic to extend Coventry’s aggregate lead to two goals, with assists from Elijiah Barriga and Connor Russell.
The visitors then stretched their advantage further before the second intermission. At 36.12 Jere Vertanen’s shot beat Kupsky to give Blaze a 1-3 lead on the night and a three-goal cushion on aggregate, with Alessio Luciani credited with the assist.
Coventry continued their clinical performance early in the third period. At 43.47 Luciani converted on a breakaway to make it 1-4 (3-7) and firmly place Blaze in control of the tie.
The Giants attempted to spark a comeback late in the game. With 6.36 remaining Ryan Smith pulled a goal back to reduce the deficit to 2-4 and 4-7 on aggregate.
Belfast then pulled Kupsky for the extra attacker with five minutes remaining, and the gamble briefly paid off when Twarynski scored his second of the game with 4.44 left to make it 3-4 on the night and 5-7 overall.
However, any hopes of a dramatic comeback were ended when Grayson Constable scored into the empty net at 56.04.
Kupsky was again pulled in the closing stages, but Blaze sealed the victory when Colton Saucerman fired into the empty net with nine seconds remaining.
The 3-6 win secured Coventry’s 5-9 aggregate victory and a place in the Challenge Cup Final, where they will face the Nottingham Panthers on Wednesday 18 March (7.30pm) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.
Photo credit: William Cherry
