Blaze traveled to Nottingham without defender David Clements and forwards Jack Hopkins and Artie Buzoverya, while the Panthers were missing Josh Tetlow and Johnny Curran, with all five players representing their country at the European Cup of Nations in Edinburgh.
After a relatively slow opening, the pace picked up halfway through the first period. Matt Alfaro was called for a cross-check before Zsombor Garat quickly followed him into the penalty area and handed Blaze a 5-on-3 power play from 1.16.
The best chance of advantage was for Grant Mismash. A sharp passing move from Jere Vertanen pulled Jason Grande out of position in the Panthers net, but Mismash fired narrowly wide. Coventry continued to apply the pressure, although the Panthers dug deep to kill the penalties before earning a late power play of their own to end a scoreless opening period.
It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken in the second. At 11.25pm Mismash’s heavy shot rebounded to Grayson Constable, who finished cleanly to give Blaze a 0-1 lead.
Just seconds later, Constable had a golden opportunity to double the lead on a breakaway, but as he approached Grande he lost control and the puck slid off his stick. William Boysen then went close for the Panthers, but Jarod Hilderman took a cutting penalty to deny the chance.
The Panthers eventually tied the game on a delayed penalty. Brendan Harris converted during the 6-on-5 play, finishing off an excellent feed from Mitch Fossier, while Jakob Stridsberg also got an assist.
The physicality increased midway through the match, with Blaze’s Connor Russell and Kim Tallberg involving Alfaro and Panthers’ Tim Doherty, a sequence that resulted in a Nottingham power play.
Coventry had goalkeeper Mat Robson to thank for moving into the second level of the break. The Canadian produced a stunning save with just 35 seconds left to keep the score at 1-1 through 40 minutes of play.
Blaze had a huge 3-on-1 opportunity early in the third period, but Panthers defenseman Spencer did a brilliant job of disrupting the rush and taking the puck from Matthew Gleason. The action continued end-to-end, with Coventry dishing out the better early chances, while Grande denied Constable at the back post with an excellent stop.
Nottingham faced a couple of power plays in the final ten minutes as they pushed for a winner, but Robson held firm and his biggest saves came from efforts from Ollie Betteridge and Fossier.
With regulation ending 1–1, the match went into sudden death overtime. Coventry controlled much of the 3-on-3 play but failed to find the decisive goal, sending the match to a penalty shootout.
Robson was excellent for Blaze, stopping all five Nottingham tries, while Adam Robbins hit the winner in the fifth round to seal a 1-2 shootout win and keep Coventry’s winning run alive.
Photo credit: Panthers Images
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