Storm snap losing streak with home win

Photo: Mark Ferria

Manchester Storm ended their losing streak with a home win over Coventry Blaze, condemning the visitors to their second loss of the week,.

An early minor on Michael Regush for two false starts on a faceoff put Storm onto a a powerplay with only 19 seconds played. Storm eventually took advantage as a rebound from a Dallas Ehrhardt shot landed straight on the stick of Tyler Hinam to finish. A deflection off a skate almost put the home side two ahead, although they did double their advantage 5:16 before the break when Alexis D’Aoust followed up a Craig Martin chance to score. The Blaze players wanted goalie interference for Martin colliding with Mat Robson, but coach Kevin Moore declined to challenge the play.

Period two seemed to take an age to complete with numerous scrums after whistles. When the play was in progress, an excellent David Tendeck save kept Blaze our eaely in period two until Terrence Amorosa shot through a screen from the point at 25:06 to get the visitors back into things. Storm hit two before the end of the period to re-gain their lead and extend it. D’Aoust was on hand in front to fire home at 33:57 to make it 3-1, while Stephen Johnson beat Robson for a funny angle to make it four less than 90 seconds later. The period also saw CJ Garcia and Morten Jurgens drop the gloves after a hit in the neutral zone, while Tyler Hinam was ejected for continuing a fight with Mike Kennedy.

Storm captain Cam Critchlow added a fifth 8:04 into the final period to complete the home side's scoring, while Brandon Alderson added a late consolation for the visitors.