The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze ended their 2026/27 Elite League regular season with a narrow 4-5 defeat to champions Belfast Giants at the Skydome Arena on Sunday.
Coventry were on the back foot early when Artie Buzoverya was called for high-sticking at 2.04. The Giants capitalised quickly on the powerplay, opening the scoring at 2.49 as Scott Conway netted his team-leading 24th goal of the season, assisted by Josh Roach and Carsen Twarynski.
After killing off their first penalty, Belfast doubled their lead at 13.03. Ben Lake produced a neat finish in front, with Carter Hamill and Ben Freeman providing the assists to make it 0-2.
The Blaze responded through Alessio Luciani, who rifled home from a tight angle to make it 1-2. Assisted by William Boysen, the goal marked Luciani’s fourth in five games, taking his season tally to 14 ahead of the playoffs.
The Giants restored their two-goal advantage at 23.10 when Nicolas Guay scored his 19th of the campaign, assisted by Kell Beattie and Jordan Kawaguchi.
Coventry thought they had pulled one back midway through the second period, but Adam Robbins’ smart finish with 5.16 remaining was ruled out for offside. However, the Blaze did cut the deficit to one at 36.26, as Matthew Gleason converted a rebound following Luciani’s initial effort. Boysen collected his second assist of the night on the play.
Just 58 seconds into the third period, Belfast struck again to make it 2-4. Kawaguchi found a way past Robson, assisted by Jake Gaudet.
The Blaze refused to go away, and at 49.13, former Giant Grant Mismash brought the game back within one at 3-4, with assists from Jere Vertanen and Robbins.
Conway added his second of the night at 52.20 to restore Belfast’s cushion at 3-5, the goal awarded after a lengthy video review for a potential kicking motion.
A late powerplay gave Coventry hope when Twarynski was called for slashing at 57.30. Just five seconds into the advantage, Jordan Power fired home to make it 4-5, assisted by Vertanen and Mike Pelech.
The Blaze pushed hard in the closing stages, pulling Robson for the extra skater. A late penalty to Lake with five seconds remaining created a 6-on-4 opportunity, but Coventry were unable to find the equaliser as the champions held on for victory.
The result sees the Blaze finish seventh in the standings, setting up a playoff quarter-final clash with the second-seeded Cardiff Devils.
The tie will be decided over two legs on aggregate:
First Leg: Saturday 11 April – Coventry Blaze vs Cardiff Devils (7.00pm, Skydome Arena)
Second Leg: Sunday 12 April – Cardiff Devils vs Coventry Blaze (5.00pm, Vindico Arena)
The winner will advance to the Playoff Finals Weekend at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on 18–19 April.
Photo credit: Scott Wiggins
