Coventry Blaze 4 - 7 Nottingham Panthers

Photograph of Brad Cruikshank scoring against the Nottingham Panthers courtsey of Mark Tredgold: www.tredders.com

 

With such a busy start to the season which saw Panthers beat the Belfast Giants in a thrilling shoot out, and Sheffield Steelers putting all their off season problems behind them in a 4 - 1 win over the Cardiff Devils. The Coventry Blaze were all set for their first league game of the season against the Nottingham Panthers at the Skydome arena. With a good turn out of fans from both teams, the stage was set for a thrilling game between two clubs after the same thing:  the Elite league title. With Blaze hoping to defend the league title after winning it last season, Panthers start their league campaign with hopes of finally winning the league trophy after so many years.

 

The first period began at a high tempo, with both teams hitting hard and throwing everything they could at each other. While Blaze was on a powerplay, Brad Cruikshank managed to score at 3:28 with Greg Owen and Greg Chambers picking up the assists. Despite Blaze getting the lead early, Panthers kept their cool and carried on playing their game, and as a result, they managed to equalise soon afterwards through Matthew Meyers with assists coming from Beauregard and Ryan. With things now equal, Panthers seemed to play a more offensive game, as the Blaze defence were forced to work hard. As Panthers tried to get round Jaeger, a shot hit the pipes leaving Blaze fans a little worried. 

 

Then, the inevitable happened. A fight. As Alex Penner tripped a Blaze player up, Jeff Smith took off the gloves and the fight began. Smith recieved a ten plus five plus two penalty, while Penner recieved five for fighting and plus two for tripping. Despite being shorthanded, Luke Fulghum (assists from Carlson and Weaver) scored for the Blaze putting them ahead of the game for the second time of the night, only for Blaze to lose their lead moments later with a goal from David Clarke (assists from Neilson, Galbraith). With the game tied for the second time in the first period, both teams played offensively, resulting in a huge collision between Panthers Stephen Lee and Blaze's Aaron Nell. Jade Galbraith, then did what he does best and scored a goal for the Panthers. Blaze netminder, Brett Jaeger was then forced to make some great saves for his team, which soon afterwards scored by an excellent pass to Owen Fussey, leaving him right in front of the Panthers goalie. The last goal of the period came for the Panthers through Ian McDonald, finishing the first period 4 - 3 to the Nottingham Panthers.

 

With Blaze now trailing, they needed a quick goal once again to get back into the game. However, this never really materialised in the second period, and with both teams still throwing everything they could, Blaze were starting to make mistakes and Panthers punished them for it. Corey Neilson was next on the score sheet, followed by former Phoenix sniper, David Beauragard. With the score now 6 - 3, Blaze had a mountaining to climb - which didn't seem possible with the way they were playing. As Blaze continued to fall apart, Panthers looked set to score another goal, which luckliy for Blaze, never happened. The second period finished 6 - 3 to Panthers.

 

Coming out of the locker room on fire, Blaze scored once again through Greg Owen, and for the first time in quite awhile, Blaze looked dangerous with the puck. As Panthers ended up having three men put into the box at one stage, Blaze had a 5 on 3 powerplay which got Blaze fans cheering once again. Slowly. As the powerplay ended, fans realised Blaze's first game of the season could be a loss. With both goalies really shining in the third and Blaze constantly fighting the puck, Blaze coach Paul Thompson called for a time out. The last goal came from Billy Ryan of the Panthers and was a empty net goal. Ending the second game of the season for Panthers a win and loss for the title defending Coventry Blaze Blaze.

 

Final Score

 

Coventry Blaze 4 Nottingham Panthers 7

 

Man on the Match

 

Blaze: Greg Owen

Panthers: Billy Ryan

 

Shots on Target

 

Blaze: 7-12-12= 31

Panthers: 22-10-9= 41

 

Penalty Minutes

 

Blaze: 19-6-6= 31

Panthers: 13-12-8= 33

• EL
• PL
• NL1N
• NL1S
• NL2N
• NL2S

• Thompson hails Cowley
• Nylander hopes to play his part
• Fussey fires Blaze to victory
• Blaze demolish Stingrays at the Hull Arena
• Blaze too hot for Stingrays

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