Genting Casino Coventry Blaze ended the Elite League regular-season with a 2-1 shoot-out defeat to Hull Stingrays at the Skydome.
Ryan O’Marra got the go-ahead goal for Blaze at 1.59 – his 18th marker of the season – but Sam Towner levelled for Stingrays at 57.25. 
After overtime failed to find a winner, the match moved into penalty shots for the third successive meeting between the sides in the last week.
Blaze had come out on top in the previous two but could not make it three in a row with Will Frederick scoring the deciding shot for Stingrays with the 14th attempt.
A two-legged play-off clash with Nottingham Panthers now awaits Blaze next weekend, with the first game at the National Ice Centre on Saturday before the return at the Skydome on Sunday (5.15pm face-off).
Coach Chuck Weber said: “It was the same performance we have had for five games now, I am sounding like a broken record.
“We are struggling to score goals and we didn’t have that killer instinct. They were waiting for that one shot and we gave it to them. It then comes down to a skills competition and they have a lot of skill.
“We will now prepare for Nottingham. They are a very good team and it is going to be a big challenge for us.”
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