The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze were beaten 7-4 by the Belfast Giants at the SSE Arena on Wednesday night.
Belfast entered the game in high spirits following their Elite League title success on Saturday, while the Blaze continued their push for a strong playoff position. The visitors were without Danish forward William Boysen, with Mat Robson starting in goal, while Jake Kupsky got the nod for the Giants.
After successfully killing the game’s first penalty, the Blaze were handed a four-minute powerplay when Reid Irwin was penalised for holding and abuse of officials. Although they couldn’t convert on the advantage, Coventry carried momentum into even strength and opened the scoring just 28 seconds later, Alessio Luciani netting unassisted at 11.57.
The Giants responded late in the period, Jake Gaudet levelling the game at 16.58 with an assist from Karl Boudrais. Belfast then took the lead on the powerplay, Scott Conway finishing from Mike Lee with 37 seconds remaining in the period after Grayson Constable was called for boarding.
Belfast extended their lead to 3-1 at 25.25, Nicolas Guay scoring with Josh Roach providing the assist.
Despite being on the penalty kill shortly after, the Blaze hit back in impressive fashion, with Mike Pelech forcing a turnover and setting up Jack Hopkins for a well-taken short-handed goal at 28.07. However, the visitors suffered a blow as Colton Saucerman was forced to leave the ice injured following the play.
The Giants quickly restored their two-goal cushion, Carsen Twarynski finishing from Gaudet at 32.58. Tempers then flared when Gaudet was penalised for cross-checking, leading to Connor Russell dropping the gloves with Boudrais.
Coventry capitalised on the resulting powerplay, with Constable firing past Kupsky at 35.36 to make it 4-3, assisted by Grant Mismash and Adam Robbins. However, Belfast struck again on the man advantage before the period ended, captain David Goodwin converting from Mike Lee and Ryan Smith with Hopkins in the box.
The Giants took control in the third period, Conway scoring his second of the night at 51.30 from JJ Piccinich and Goodwin to make it 6-3. Belfast’s powerplay continued to deliver, and Conway completed his hat-trick at 54.08, finishing a move involving Lee – who recorded his third assist of the game – and Goodwin.
Following the seventh goal, both teams made changes in net, with Dershahn Stewart replacing Robson for the Blaze, while veteran Andrew Dickson saw ice time for the Giants to a warm reception from the home crowd.
Luciani grabbed a late consolation for Coventry with 33 seconds remaining, but it was Belfast who skated away with a 7-4 victory, adding another win to their title-winning campaign.
The Blaze must now wait until the final round of fixtures this weekend to discover their opponents in the Elite League quarter-finals.
Photo credit: William Cherry
