Coventry Blaze registered their very first Challenge Cup victory in the Guildford Spectrum with a 5-3 victory over the Flames on Saturday evening.
“Every shot is like a reset for me and you try to concentrate on the next and to stay focused,” said Mat Robson, who was 61 shots at night. “Our ability to dig deep tonight showed how resilient we are. We have found a way to endure some difficult situations and I think it gave us a spark to go from there.”
Despite the surpassing of their visitors 19-7 in the opening period, the flames were the same for 20 minutes. Tyler Busch shot a shot through Mat Robson’s five-hole to put the hosts forward at 8:22, but their lead took only six and a half minutes before Grant Mismash tapped home to tie things.
“Their goalkeeper played a really good game,” admitted Cole Ully van Flames. “We have put a lot of pucks on the net, but did not do enough work to reach the net. They did well for Robson and he had an excellent competition. We have made too many mistakes and turnover to their goals.”
Mike Pelech brought the fire 101 seconds ahead in period two and ended in a net that was detached after the first game of Kim Tallberg. Because it was an immediate score, the goal was correctly awarded, despite the fact that Travis Brown took the net off its berths. Ethan Strang was denied an escape by Robson before Lewis Hook got the last touch to lift the Puck about Robson at 34:54 to bind the game again. It seemed that the teams would go to the break, but the hard work by Tallberg founded Alessio Luciani for a slapshot that sailed past Taz Burman at 39:11 to restore Coventry’s lead. Archie Hazeldine almost expanded it, only for Burman to scramble over his fold to make a spectacular stop.
Seventy -six seconds in the third, Jere Vertanen’s shot was tipped along Burman by Matthew Gleason to put the fire in front.
“We wanted to ensure that we capitalized on that powerplay at the start of the third, and we did to build that lead of two goals,” Robson continued. “I think we will be a very strong third period team throughout the season, we are well conditioned. I tried to do my work on the back and the boys did theirs for me and it worked well for us tonight.”
Cole withdrew Ully one for the flames only 45 seconds later. The hosts came close to tying things, but struggled to hit the target, and when Mack Stewart sam Ruffin chose to bring the score to 5-3 at 51:39, the game was effectively sealed.
It was one of those nights for the Flames, who could only watch while Robson Coventry Backstops for an excellent 58-save victory.
“It is early in the season and we still have a number of things to find out. Special teams are huge, we had a 5-on-3 and it is not scoring and it is absolutely frustrating. We have to get that better and I am sure our coaches will look at it.”
Photo: John Uwins
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