Blaze Cruise Past Dundee Stars
The DPD Coventry Blaze continued their impressive run of form with a 5-1 victory over the Dundee Stars at Skydome Arena on Wednesday night. The result earned the Blaze a 14th point from a possible 18 and lifted them to third place in the Motorpoint Elite League standings.
Vladislav Pestov started between the pipes for Dundee, while Evan Fitzpatrick got the nod in net for Coventry.
The Stars made an early breakthrough at 2:18 when Sebastian Bengtsson opened the scoring. Keaton Jameson won the puck battle along the boards before feeding Bengtsson, who found himself in space and made no mistake to put Dundee ahead.
Coventry responded through Man of the Match Sam Ruffin at 17:10. Jack Hopkins found Ruffin in front of goal, where he skilfully stickhandled before slipping the puck five-hole past Pestov to level the score. It was Ruffin's first goal of the season following a lengthy road back from injury, with Hopkins and Jaxson Ezman picking up the assists.
Ruffin struck again at 30:13 to put the Blaze in front. Once more, Hopkins did the hard work, winning a puck battle before finding Griffin in space to finish into the open net. Hopkins and Brynley Capps were credited with the assists.
Just 1:41 later, Tanner Kaspick extended Coventry's advantage to 3-1 with a superb finish. A Marko Csollák shot bounced off Pestov and into the air, where Kaspick picked it out and lifted the puck underneath the crossbar. It was Kaspick's first goal in competitive action for the Blaze after missing the early part of the season through injury. Csollák and Brett Perlini collected the assists.
The Blaze also had two penalties to kill during the second period but stood firm defensively, ensuring they took their 3-1 advantage into the second intermission.
The third period saw a further penalty for Coventry, before Dundee took their first penalty of the night, cancelling out the Blaze's man advantage.
With the Stars searching for a way back into the contest, Coventry delivered a decisive blow at 53:23. Csollák unleashed a powerful shot which flew past Pestov to make it 4-1, with Griffin Ness providing the assist.
Hopkins struck the post on the next shift, narrowly missing the opportunity to extend the lead further, before Kaspick was denied by an excellent save from Pestov with five minutes remaining.
Tempers flared with three minutes to play as the physicality increased behind the Dundee net. Evan Brand looked to fight Matthew Gleason, prompting Coventry's Andrew Nielsen to get involved after the Stars player threw a punch in defence of his teammate.
The incident proved costly for Dundee, with the Blaze emerging from the confrontation with a powerplay. A subsequent awkward hit on Kaspick resulted in another penalty for the Stars, leaving them facing a five-on-three disadvantage as the game entered its closing stages.
Coventry made the most of their late opportunities, adding a fifth goal with just 1:45 remaining. Excellent puck movement from the Blaze was finished off by Brett Perlini, who tucked the puck home following a clever slap pass from William Boysen to round off the scoring at 5-1.
It was another valuable two points for the Blaze, who continued their excellent run of form and moved to within a single point of their next opponents, league leaders Cardiff Devils.