Coventry Blaze edge Dundee Stars in absorbing contest

Well, this one might be a bit tricky. This weekend gone I was present at the Skydome Arena for my maiden Coventry Blaze ice hockey game, but given my limited understanding of the sport bearing an article was always going to be a tough ask.

Maintaining the solid home form enjoyed this term, the Blaze edged a nervy 3-2 overtime win against the Dundee Stars

I’ll be honest, my appreciation for field hockey is entirely nonexistent. My initial, and unsurprisingly only, taste of the game took place in primary school, where my brother’s fingernail failed to survive an encounter with one fell swoop of my stick.

Despite this limited understanding, though, ice hockey is an entirely different story. Having last spring attended a minor league encounter between the Orlando Solar Bears and the Jacksonville Icemen on vacation in central Florida, and that summer being present at my Floridian friend’s local as his beloved Panthers finally clinched their maiden Stanley Cup, my appetite for ice hockey was at all all-time high.

On Sunday 26 January, the Coventry Blaze returned to the Skydome Arena having secured a valuable point on the road in Belfast the previous night. Maintaining the solid home form enjoyed this term, the Blaze edged a nervy 3-2 overtime win against the Dundee Stars.

Robson would end the night tallying forty-two saves, playing a pivotal role in the eventual Blaze victory

Coventry raced into an early 2-0 lead in the first period rather against the general run of play, forward Alessio Luciano and then defenceman Jakob Stridsberg finishing past Stars goaltender Jarrett Fiske in quick succession. As a Norwich fan I loved nothing more than Samba de Janeiro accompanying the second of the Blaze efforts, even if the song had been played almost on loop the day before as we ran out 5-1 winners at home to Swansea City.

A fifth defeat in six seemed to be on the cards for the Stars when defenseman Ben O’Connor was handed a five-minute major penalty midway through the second period for a boarding offence, and a pretty spectacular one at that given the stricken Stridsberg failed to return to the rink through the remainder of play.

Yet it was the Stars against the run of the Coventry powerplay who tallied next, forward Zach Tsekos finally beating what proved an inspired performance from Blaze goaltender Mat Robson. Robson would end the night tallying forty-two saves, playing a pivotal role in the eventual Blaze victory.

Dundee continued their onslaught through the remainder of the second period and their efforts were only aided by Blaze discipline leaving much to be desired, forward Brandon Alderson evidently enjoying the snugness of the home penalty box given his two successive infractions for slashing and holding the stick.

The Stars maintained their pressure to send the game into overtime, and with just over two minutes left on the clock they did just that

Penalty troubles for both sides over by the conclusion of the second period, the first ten minutes of the third went by largely without incident. The Stars, though, maintained their pressure to send the game into overtime, and with just over two minutes left on the clock they did just that, forwards Brett Gravelle and Keanu Yamamoto combining with the former turning home.

The home side, though, were not to be denied. In reality only the Blaze looked likely to clinch the extra two points in overtime without the need for a shootout, defenseman Mike Kennedy with his maiden professional goal less than two minutes in capping off a productive weekend for the Blaze.

A midweek home encounter with the Guildford Flames awaits the Blaze, which I would heartily recommend to all Warwick sports fans, before a weekend trip to Altrincham and a struggling Manchester Storm brings opportunity to rectify what can best be described as inconsistent away form this term.