The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze secured their first road win of the new season with a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory over Manchester Storm in Altrincham on Friday night.
Both teams had leads during the game, but it was the Blaze who held their nerve in a tense shootout to take the extra point after an action-packed 65 minutes.
The Blaze opened the scoring early in the first period through Brandon Alderson, who hammered home a Jakob Stridsberg pass on the powerplay at 7.28. Manchester Storm, however, responded at 14.45 when Craig Martin pounced on a rebound from Jake Durflinger’s shot, levelling the game.
Coventry regained the lead in the final moments of the opening period, with Chase Gresock finding the net from a feed by Mike Regush at 18.56 to make it 2-1.
The second period saw Storm draw level again. Just past the halfway mark, Jake Durflinger finished off a well-worked move from a Noah Carroll pass to beat Blaze netminder Mat Robson, making it 2-2 at 33.34.
In a tense third period, Durflinger struck again, giving Manchester their first lead of the night. After collecting the puck behind the Blaze net, he wrapped around and tucked it past Robson at 49.16 to put Storm ahead 3-2.
However, that lead was short-lived, as just 81 seconds later, Jackson Cressey squeezed a shot past Storm goalie Evan Weninger from a tight angle at 50.37, tying the game once again.
Coventry had a golden opportunity to win it in regulation when they were awarded a penalty shot with less than a minute remaining, but the Storm netminder stood tall to deny Morten Jürgens, sending the game into overtime.
The extra period was frantic, with no stoppages for the entire five minutes. Blaze successfully killed an early minor penalty, and despite several chances at both ends, neither team could find the winner.
In the shootout, both sides traded goals through the first four rounds, but in the fifth, Robson made a stunning save to deny Joe Morrow, setting the stage for Kim Tallberg to clinch the win for Coventry with a composed finish.
Photo credit: Mark Ferris
