Blaze close gap in race for fourth

Photo: Panthers Images

Coventry Blaze secured the road win they needed in Nottingham to close the game on the Panthers and set up an exciting finish in the race for fourth.

Making his home debut, Will Kerlin was beaten just 68 seconds in when Janne Laakkonen went through 1-on-0 and beat him five-hole. That goal started a goal rush in the opening 11 minutes which saw four further pucks find the back of the net. Sean Richards equalised at 5:37 with a nice move when his speed got him through 1-on-0 on CJ Motte, and 90 seconds later Mathieu Tousignant put the Panthers ahead. Jordan Kelsall used Matthew Myers as a decoy before firing home for the 3-1 lead shorthanded at 10:24, only for Evan Bloodoff to pull the Blaze back to within one at 8:51 just four seconds after the penalty expired.

Edwin Hedberg gave the Panthers their two-goal advantage back 1:13 into period two, but that was to be where things started to go south for the home side. John Curran and Ryan Penny beat Kerlin 26 seconds apart to tie the game, while Bloodoff's second of the night at 31:55 put them 6-4 ahead going into the second intermission.

Penny and Conner Chaulk scored 3:58 and 6:41 into period three respectively to put the visitors up to eight, with Mitch Cook making it nine at 50:02. Curran completed a hat trick at 51:29 from the slot with the game's final goal.