Coventry Blaze edged a point closer to Guildford Flames at the lower end of the playoff places with an overtime win at the Spectrum.
“We’re really happy! There were a lot of ups and downs in that game,” explained Grayson Constable, who scored twice. “We played last night and they didn’t, so to come in and get that road win felt really good.”
The opening period was played at a high tempo and featured a fair share of penalties. It was Guildford who struck first, opening the scoring while shorthanded. At 11:07, Tyler Busch intercepted the puck just inside the blue line and carried it up ice before sliding a perfectly weighted pass across to Nick Seitz. Seitz caught Matt Robson out of position and buried the chance, giving the Flames a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Eight minutes into the second period, Coventry found their equaliser. David Clements fired a shot from the blue line that rebounded off the boards and dropped into the crease. William Boysen was quickest to react, tapping the puck into the Flames’ net with Jake Kupsky unable to recover in time.
“Our first two periods weren’t good,” admitted Flames forward Jake Coughler. “We turned it on in the third and to get back into it was good, but you can’t play for 20 minutes in this league and expect to win.”
As the period progressed, the game became increasingly scrappy. Coventry were handed a power play following a slashing call on Busch, and the visitors wasted little time capitalising. Grayson Constable unleashed a shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and into the net. The goal was reviewed but ultimately stood with no high stick on the play, giving Coventry a 2-1 lead.
The Flames tied the game 5:26 into the third period as Jake Coughler stretched in for a loose puck and forced it over the line. The Blaze bench considered challenging the play but ultimately opted not to.
“We had a lot of momentum in the third period, I thought we were on top. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way,” said Coughler, who scored the equaliser.
“You have to prepare for these moments, especially with the games we have coming up and a Challenge Cup semi-final,” added Constable. “I thought we did a really good job handling that game after they pulled it back.”
With no further scoring in regulation, both sides took a point as the game headed into overtime. Travis Brown’s individual effort was the best of the early chances in the extra period, but a misplay by Kupsky saw him fan on the puck and allow James Constable to push the winner over the line from close range 2:49 into overtime.
“Right before going into overtime, we just felt like we were going to win,” said Constable. “That sounds funny, but we thought it was our game. It’s not often you get the chance to score two goals, so that was nice and felt good.”
Photo: John Uwins