Five-goal Blaze keep Christmas spirits high

A rare midweek game for the Coventry Blaze saw the Braehead Clan come to town as part of their English double-header, having lost in Nottingham 3-1 the night before. It was the Clan’s first visit to the Skydome this season with the sides having faced each other twice in Scotland already; the Clan won on both of those occasions.

Early on, it looked like Braehead would continue that winning streak as they scored early on with their impressive top line linking up, Jordan Krestanovich scoring from Jade Galbraith. It was yet another soft goal for Peter Hirsch and the Coventry defence which they will surely want to eliminate from their game. It has been a worrying trend of late for the odd goal to be leaked early doors.

However, the Blaze would shift the momentum in the first period with Shea Guthrie scoring twice. The first goal was a little strange and certainly very lucky as a scramble in front of the net saw the puck inch over the line slowly and in. The second was a powerplay marker after James Jorgensen took a somewhat unnecessary interference penalty. Stepping across the pass of an oncoming forward with help by his side and the puck nowhere near him; it was an easy call to make.

This was a sign that the speed of the Blaze attack troubled the Clan, and combined with the added physicality that they brought to the game compared with previous outings allowed Coventry to establish themselves in the contest. Whilst there was no scoring until the third period, they always looked in control and it was really only the Krestanovich-Galbraith-Bayrack line that caused any troubles at all. The Blaze however troubled Braehead with all three lines again. In particular, having Owen Fussey on the third line is causing match-up problems for all visiting teams.

Greg Owen added the third at 44.24 after Jaakko Suomalainen found himself trying to check a player way out of his crease and lost composure, giving Owen an excellent opportunity to slot home. Seconds later, Matic Kralj put the tie beyond doubt, scoring a second powerplay goal of the night for Coventry with some excellent puck movement in the Clan zone. This from a powerplay unit that had recently been struggling for the Blaze has now found some momentum, scoring five powerplay goals in the last three games.

Kralj added his second of the night and Blaze’s fifth late on in the game. The third period emphasised the fact that Braehead had played the previous night whereas Coventry hadn’t played since Sunday, with tired legs skating for the Clan. Men of the match were somewhat odd decisions, Ryan Campbell and Peter Hirsch taking the honours. Campbell was anonymous all night with Krestanovich or Bayrack better candidates; Hirsch had a good game for Coventry but it was Shea Guthrie who was truly the standout player.

Coventry go into the Christmas break with six league wins on the bounce and face the Hull Stingrays in a holiday double-header on the 27th (H) and 28th (A) of December, looking to extend the winning streak to eight games.