Coventry Blaze completed a perfect weekend and moved top of Group A in the Challenge Cup with a 2-1 shootout victory over Guildford Flames on home ice.
“These are important points that we need to put ourselves in a good position in the Challenge Cup,” began Blaze defenseman Colton Saucerman. “Both teams we’ve faced this weekend are strong and well-coached, and we knew we’d have our hands full. We wanted to come home and finish strong.
“We knew this would be a tight game. At times we were a little sloppy, but overall you can’t be mad at winning two games!”
The opening period was goalless but far from dull, with both sides trading chances in a fast, end-to-end first 20 minutes.
Coventry’s first real opportunity came just over three minutes in, when Saucerman’s slapshot from the blue line whistled wide of the Flames’ net. At the other end, Guildford broke 3-on-2 at 10:45, but the Blaze defence shut down the danger before they could test Mat Robson.
Both netminders were kept busy throughout the frame. With just over five minutes remaining, Robson denied Jack Jacome with a smart save, covering the puck under his arm. Moments later, Justin Fazio charged out of his crease to smother a loose puck after blocking Sam Ruffin’s effort. The period finished scoreless, thanks in part to a brave stop from Robson, who made a crucial save off his mask with 36 seconds left.
The deadlock was broken early in the second period. Ben Solder was called for tripping at 21:35, and the Blaze made the resulting powerplay count – Grant Mismash’s slapshot beat Fazio cleanly at 22:58 to give Coventry the lead.
Guildford replied quickly, however. Just two minutes later, Sean Comrie capitalised when Robson was caught out of position, slotting the puck home at 24:37 to level the game.
The Flames had a chance to take the lead on the powerplay at 27:12 after Buzoverya was sent off for boarding, but their best look came when a shot pinged off the post at 28:51 before Robson dived on the rebound to deny a follow-up.
Both goalies continued to impress, with Fazio pulling off an outstanding stop on his back to rob Jack Hopkins in close with five minutes left in the period. The second ended as it began – all square, tied 1–1 heading into the third.
“It was a really close game. I thought we played a solid road game,” said Flames goalie Fazio. “We almost had that but for a shootout, so you have to be proud of that. We have to take it one game at a time in the Cup now and go from there. We have an amazing group here, one of the best I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m enjoying my time in Guildford.”
There were no goals in a frantic final period, leaving both teams with a point and overtime to follow. Unusually, OT saw both sides enjoy time on the powerplay and even included a fight, but the teams couldn’t be separated.
It fell to penalty shots to decide the game, where Jere Vertanen’s calm and composed effort proved the difference as the Blaze took the shootout, and the game, 2–1.
Summarising the weekend that put the Blaze top of Group A, Saucerman added: “You want to be in the top two for sure in the Cup, and we’ve put ourselves in a good position. There are still things we need to fix in our game, but where we are right now is a result of our buy-in and hard work.”
Photo: Scott Wiggins