Blaze thrash Devils to snap losing streak

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Coventry Blaze snapped a three-game winless run with a convincing 6-0 win over second-placed Cardiff Devils at the Skydome on Saturday night in front of over 2,300 spectators.

Coventry led by two after the opening 20 minutes with a pair of goals that probably weren't how Danny Stewart would have drawn up, but deservedly had them ahead all the same. A rebound in front of Taran Kozun was put home by Marly Quince just 22 seconds into the game, but the Blaze forward only just caught the puck and saw his shot slowly slide over the line. At 5:09, a David Clements dump-in took a very odd bounce off the back boards allowing JD Dudek to fire home in front with Kozun stranded. John Curran hitting the outside of Kozan's net saw the Blaze come close to adding a third in a period they dominated.

Coventry held their lead through period two but the Devils were much more in the game than they were in the first 20 minutes. Paavo Hölsä was called into repeated action with some excellent saves, the standout to deny Stefan Fournier getting the Devils on the board.

Colton Yellow Horn saw his 1-on-0 shot saved, but as the puck broke loose he spun and flicked the puck past Kozun to make it 3-0 3:36 into period three. Kim Tallberg fired home as the puck bounced around the Devils' zone on a Blaze powerplay at 52:24 to make things comfortable for the hosts, while Tanner Lishchynsky shot into the empty net with 1:53 to play as Cardiff tried to break Hölsä's shutout. Nathan Ripley scored 29 seconds later with a nice shot from the high slot to cap off a resounding win for the Blaze.