Storm end 3-in-3 with second win of weekend

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Manchester Storm ended their 3-in-3 with another win over Coventry, the team they started it against, leaving the Blaze with no points from their three games this weekend.

"I thought it went really well! We're not used to 3-in-3s, but a lot of us have played them before so we knew what to expect," began Tyler Hinam, who scored the game-winner. "You know it'll be sore and it'll hurt, but we got through it and it was a successful weekend for us."

22 seconds into the game, Chase Gresock could have put the Blaze one ahead but shot over when through on Evan Weninger. Mat Robson was on hand to deny the Storm on a 1-on-0 opportunity of their own 8:40 into the game, but it was Gresock who opened the scoring with a powerplay goal at 10:03.

Ryan Hughes tied the game at 17:56 as Storm hit back with a powerplay goal of their own, but the Blaze did lead at the buzzer. Kim Tallberg’s shot with 14 seconds to play was tipped passed Weninger by Alessio Luciani to put the hosts back in front.

Storm thought they’d tied the game on the buzzer, but the goal was washed out as time had already expired.

Cam Critchlow tipped the puck past Robson 3:25 into period two to get Storm level again, and they’d go on to take the lead. A Joe Morrow odd-man rush attempt was saved by Robson, but Tyler Hinam got on the rebound to push the puck over the line at 34:27.

"We're playing for our lives right now," continued Hinam. "We know that, and we know this hasn't been the sort of season we wanted to have. But we're still breathing, still fighting, and we'll claw to the very end."

Both sides saw powerplay chances go begging at the start of period three, but the all-important next goal of the game went the way of the visitors. Gianluca Estevez gave Storm a two-goal advantage with the finish off a Jake Durflinger feed wit h4:19 to play to put Manchester 4-2 ahead.

The Blaze pressured Weninger’s net with Robson pulled, but they couldn’t find a goal to make things interesting and saw Manchester take the win.

"It's a good challenge for us and we know we'll need a very strong finish to the season," said Hinam of the chase on Dundee for the final playoff place. "We have to focus on the next game we have, and control what we can control. We can't control what Dundee does, but we can control our game and make sure we win the next one that comes."