17 Feb 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | SkyDome Arena |
Coventry Blaze | 3-2 | Guildford Flames |
Periods: Shots: | 1-2 (10-14) | 1-0 (10-13) | 1-0 (5-8) | Total: 25-35 |
|
Referees: Wells/Dalton  |  Spectators: 1863 |
  |
Goals and assists
Coventry Blaze fought back from two down to beat Guildford Flames in
regulation, cutting the gap between the teams down to just a point.
Blaze
goalie Taran Kozun took the game's first penalty for shooting the puck
out of bounds, and the Flames punished their hosts on the resulting
man-advantage - Peter Crinella with the finish after a touch off his
skate to settle the puck at the edge of the slot. By 9:26 the Flames
went two ahead through Lewis Hook to put themselves into a good
position. With 4:21 left in the period, Kim Tallberg forced the puck
just over the goal line, the goal given despite Flames' protests that it
hadn't crossed the line.
The Blaze tied the game after Steven
McParland was called for Goalie Interference going through Kozun. Just
eight seconds into the resulting powerplay, the returning Johnny Curran
tied things up with 26:18 played. Coventry could have gone ahead but for
the puck being somewhere under Burman and not over the line, while the
Flames couldn't take advantage of a late powerplay to go back into the
lead.
The Flames spent long periods of play in the Blaze's zone in
the final period, but were undone by a strange play the other way.
Blake Thompson and Kim Tallberg combined to somehow work the puck over
the line around Burman and put the Blaze ahead for the first time in the
game at 48:46.
That goal was enough to give the Blaze their 19th win of the season, but only seventh in regulation.