Cale Tanaka scored the game-winning goal in overtime as Genting Casino Coventry Blaze beat Cardiff Devils 5-4 in south Wales in the Elite League.
Blaze led 4-1 going into the final seven minutes before Devils forced the additional five minutes, with Tanaka pouncing just 15 seconds from the end.
After handing a debut to American forward Vladimir Nikiforov, Blaze made a lightning start with Jim Jorgensen scoring his first goal for the club after just 22 seconds.
Tanaka doubled Blaze’s lead at 15.36 with Brent Walton (18.03) reducing the deficit. Steve Goertzen (32.30) netted the only goal of the second period before Jakub Sindel made it 4-1 at 51.27.
Two Devils goals inside 46 seconds from Carl Hudson (53.52 short-handed) and Andrew Lord (54.38) set up a tense finish.
Jake Morissette then tied it up at 4-4 at 58.46 after Devils pulled the goalie but Tanaka came up with the decisive strike to make it three successive wins for Blaze.
Coach Chuck Weber said: “It was a big win but there was relief more than anything.
“We had a pretty good first period, we were on our heels for most of the second and I liked our first 10 minutes of the third.
“There are a lot of lessons to be learned but it is nice when you can learn those lessons and still pick up the two points.”
On the performance of Nikiforov, Weber added: “There is still work to do on his conditioning to get him up to speed. We saw some flashes but he will now have a good week’s practice.”
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