Giudice inspires third period comeback
The Coventry Blaze took part in yet another late late show at the Skydome this season, beating the Hull Stingrays 6-5 after penalty shots. Every competitive game in Coventry, bar the home game vs Fife which had a late winner, has been decided in OT or on penalties, highlighting the competitive nature of the 2012-13 Elite League.
Blaze took a two-goal lead in the first with two goals from Gerome Giudice. The first was some neat hands close in front of the net and the second was somewhat more controversial. Giudice put the puck towards the net and in the ensuing scramble, started to celebrate. The goal light to an age to come on and the officials eventually decided it was in. The fact that none of the four officials on the ice were in a position to see whether it was in or not was disappointing; the four man system is supposed to help with that by always having a ref at the front of play. Even on the webcast it was unclear whether it had gone in and the chance of that goal being given on an NHL-style video replay was slim at best.
Hull took their frustration out in a second period blitz scoring five answered goals. The normally solid Blaze D went to sleep and exposed Peter Hirsch in the net so badly the home fans thought they had gone back to last season. Even a timeout by Paul Thompson couldn’t stem the tide.
It was the intermission “team talk” that got the Blaze going again; Giudice completed his hattrick and the Blaze drew level at 5-5; a three goal swing back in the other direction. It was at this point that Hirsch and his opposite number, Ben Bowns stepped up and each produced some excellent saves to keep the scores level and send the game into overtime.
Neither side could break the deadlock despite Hull having over two minutes of powerplay in the extra five minutes, and as such penalties were needed. With Hull 1-0 up, Giudice stepped up yet again to cap his night and level, sending the game to sudden death. The experienced Brad Leeb showed his scoring touch beating Bowns five-hole for the winning shot.
Hull were impressive. They dominated the second period and were good value for their point. With a bit of luck on another night, they would’ve taken both. Janis Ozolins was dangerous going forward, getting man of the match. Bowns highlighted his position as the future of British netminding with an outstanding third period display. They are unlikely to challenge at the top of the standings but they will upset most teams at some point this year and certainly appear to have their best team for a long time.
Blaze managed to grind out another win with their short bench, although Mike Bayrack had managed to join the team after flying in that afternoon. Giudice in particular was very impressive. What it does highlight is that the Blaze in their current shape are a tough team to beat, with only one regulation loss this season. They are going to fight to the end and teams will have to be prepared to play at least 60 minutes in order to get two points from the contest.