Nottingham Panthers 6 Coventry Blaze 7

The last time Coventry where in Nottingham they suffered their worst result in the nine years the Elite has been going as they went down 10-1. This time the fans saw two more goals as the teams shared 13 goals with Coventry coming out on top by the odd goal.

The home side were dealt a blow, as regular goaltender Craig Kowalski was ill and had to start with backup goaltender Dan Green between the pipes. He was unable to stop Owen Fussy as he netted four on the night.

The opening goal came from the visitors as Luke Fulghum was on hand to net with a short-handed goal at 5.54. Panthers were soon back on level terms as Matt Francis scored on the powerplay at 7.15.

However, Owen Fussey with his first goal of the night put the visitors 2-1 in front at 9.40. At 13.10 back came the hosts as Brock Wilson tied it up at two apiece.

The Blaze regained the lead again early in the second period as Matic Kralj scored on the powerplay at 21.58. They opened up a two-goal lead with a strike from Shea Guthrie at 24.26. The home side were not for lying down and at 28.44 Brandon Benedict made it a one goal game.

But they then lost two goals in a minute as Owen Fussey completed his hat-trick with strikes at 33.50 and 34.53. Before they could draw a breath, Matthew Myers scored at the other end at 35.30. The last word in the period went to Owen Fussey as he scored his fourth at 38.02 to give the visitors a 7-4 lead after 40 minutes.

With less than six minutes, remaining Scott Champagne got a fifth for the Panthers as he scored at 54.19. Then at 59.21, David Beauregard made it a one-goal game and set up a frantic last 39 seconds. The Blaze held on and picked up the points.

Period Scores: 2-2, 2-5, 2-0
Penalty Mins: Not 17 – Cov 49
Powerplay: Not 1/5 – Cov 2/4
Shots On: Dan Green 30 / Peter Hirsch 43
Referee: Andy Carson