Blaze snatch OT winner after Stars tie late

Photo: Scott Wiggins

A crowd of 1,983 at the Skydome saw Coventry Blaze win in overtime after Dundee Stars scored a late equaliser in a game that finished 3-2.

Coventry started fast and were two up through 20 minutes, but could easily have been further ahead. Alessio Luciani was left in space to snipe past Jarret Fiske with only 3;47 played, while Jakob Stridsberg added a second inside eight and a half minutes. The hosts could have made it three when they broke 3-on-1, but Luciani found himself caught between passing or taking it on himself and in the end did neither.

Dundee were the better team for period two, however with Ben O’Connor sitting a major penalty for boarding the Blaze had an excellent opportunity to extend their advantage. With five forwards out on the powerplay for the hosts, Nick Seitz made a mis-judged pinch and the Stars broke 2-on-1 the other way with Spencer Naas feeding Zach Tsekos for the finish on a bouncing puck to halve the deficit at 31:12. Outshooting their hosts in the period, the Stars may have felt disappointed to still be one behind at the end of the period.

The Stars pressing again in period three, and were eventually rewarded for their efforts. Brett Gravell found a gap in Robson's net to snipe home with 2:06 to play and grab themselves a late point.

Mike Kennedy was the Blaze's hero with the winner just 1:43 into overtime, his first professional goal getting Coventry the extra point.