The Genting Casino Coventry Blaze endured a tough weekend, suffering a 2-4 defeat to the Manchester Storm at the Skydome Arena on Sunday night.
The result left the Blaze without a point from their three games over the weekend, despite a spirited effort against their opponents.
The Blaze had an opportunity to take an early lead just 22 seconds into the game when Chase Gresock broke through on Evan Weninger, but his shot went over the net.
However, Coventry did find the opening goal at 10.03 when Gresock made up for his earlier miss by firing home a powerplay goal, his league best 28th of the regular season, assisted by Brandon Alderson and Terrance Amorosa.
Manchester responded with a powerplay goal of their own at 17.56, as Ryan Hughes beat Mat Robson to level the game.
But Coventry regained their advantage before the first intermission when Kim Tallberg’s shot was expertly tipped past Weninger by Alessio Luciani with just 14 seconds remaining in the period. The Storm thought they had equalized on the buzzer, but after a video review, the goal was disallowed as time had expired.
The second period saw the visitors claw their way back into the contest once again. Cameron Critchlow redirected a shot past Robson at 23.25, again on the powerplay to make it 2-2.
The Storm then took the lead at 34.27 when Tyler Hinam converted a rebound from a Joe Morrow effort, putting Coventry on the back foot heading into the final period.
Both teams had further powerplay opportunities early in the third, but neither could capitalize.
The crucial fourth goal went the way of the Storm at 55.11 when Gianluca Estevez finished off a feed from Jake Durflinger to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Coventry pulled Robson for the extra attacker in the closing minutes, applying intense pressure on the Storm’s net, but they were unable to muster the energy to fightback.
The final buzzer confirmed a 2-4 defeat for the Blaze, capping off a difficult weekend.
Photo credit: Scott Wiggins
