Blaze come back from two down, win in OT

Photo: Al Goold

Coventry Blaze came back from 3-1 down to eventually beat Glasgow Clan 5-4 after overtime at Braehead Arena. The crowd of 2,884 also saw Clan tie the game into the final two minutes.

Nolan Kent was called into action early to deny Reid Petryk coming in at the back post for a one-time finish, but the Blaze goalie's out-stretched pad kept the home side out. Matt Barry opened the scoring with 9:25 played, pulling off an excellent deke through the defenseman's legs before sliding the pick from side to side to beat Kent and put Clan ahead. Darien Craighead's wrap-around attempt almost made it two for the home side, while the Blaze's best chance of the period saw Jake Kielly pull off a big save to deny Ian McNulty's slapshot.

Coventry came out strong in period two and deservedly tied the game when Alessio Luciani deflected Kim Tallberg's pass behind Kielly at 23:13. Two minors on the Blaze gave Clan a change to go back ahead, an opportunity they took at 27:51 with Charlie Combs getting his first for the Clan at 27:51 with the play back to 5-on-4. Gary Haden sent an excellent shot high past Kent at 33:30 to put Clan 3-1 up and seemingly in control. However, a JD Dudek response 68 seconds later brought Coventry back into things, followed by an excellent Mitch Cook backhand pass in front to set up Tyler Kirkup for the tying goal at 35:58. Luciani tipped another shot, this time from Kobe Roth, past Kielly at 38:35 to give the Blaze the lead on the powerplay.

Coventry survived an early minor on Lxuciani to stay ahead, with both goalies pulling off excellent saves to keep it a one-goal game. With 2:13 to play, Jason Morgan called a timeout and on the next play pulled Kielly for the extra skater. His gamble paid off as a Haden shot was saved by Kent but Combs came through to fire the rebound home and tie things up with 1:44 to play. Clan had some of the early better chances in overtime, but the Blaze won the extra point breaking 2-on-1 and Btady Norrish firing home an excellent Luciani pass.

The sides meet again on Sunday in Coventry, with the Blaze now seven games unbeaten.