Blaze pay penalty for mistakes
FOLLOWING a narrow defeat in NottiFOLLOWING a narrow defeat in Nottingham, Genting Casino Coventry Blaze suffered further disappointment at the wekend, falling to Patton Conference rivals Manchester Storm 4-1 in their Elite League home opener.
With Danick Paquette and Garrett Ladd missing again for Coventry, the opening twenty minutes were a cagey affair with few major scoring chances.
In the second period though, the game came to life. Matt Beca, who led the league for scoring last season as part of the Braehead Clan, put the away side ahead (21.37) before Blaze’s Dax Lauwers and Storm’s Gerard Hanson each received five-minute penalties for fighting. This followed a bump on Coventry goalie Kevin Nastiuk at 36.57. Blaze assistant captain Ryan Dingle and Manchester’s Luke Moffat also picked up five minutes for dropping their gloves.
Captain Jordan Pietrus thought he’d tied the game 1-1 just after the halfway mark, the goal though waved off by referee Michael Hicks due to an apparent man in the goal crease.
Seconds later, Dingle rounded Storm goalie Mike Clemente, with the net dislodged and the goal light flashing, the opportunity again wiped out by the official, leaving head coach Danny Stewart and the Blaze bench less than impressed.
On a five-on-three powerplay, Beca then doubled the away side’s advantage (38.03) before Marco Vallerand in the third period gave Blaze a lifeline (45.14). The assist going to Swedish defenceman Gustav Ahnelov – his fifth straight home game with a point.
A comeback wasn’t to be though as Ryan Trenz on the man advantage and Mike Hammond, assisted by Beca who picked up four points on the night, registered to leave Blaze pointless after the first weekend of the season.
Stewart said: “We made one too many mistakes and penalties again caught up with us.
“You have to find a way to stay out of the box in this league because it’s just too demanding on your players.
“We’ll address it this week and find a way to be better. I have to give Ryan (Finnerty) and his men credit, they played a smart road game and didn’t make too many mistakes.”
Edgars Bebris, who was this week rewarded with a full-time contract following a successful pre-season trial period, said: “We need to look at these two games and learn from our mistakes. We played hard but penalties, and the two goals being wiped out hurt us in the end.”
Assistant captain, Kevin Noble, was direct in his comments concluding: “We have got to find a way to win it’s as simple as that.”