The Coventry Blaze scored 4 unanswered goals in the 2nd period to blow open a 2-1 game on their way to a 6-1 Cup win over the visiting Flames.
Nathan Ripley staked Blaze to a lead at 7:41. Ryan Tait evened it at 12:52, but former Flames skater Ian McNulty nudged Blaze back in front just 52 seconds later on a powerplay and the 2-1 score remained on the board as the period closed.
Blaze put the game out of reach in the 2nd with 4 straight goals against no reply. Ripley’s 2nd came at 22:01 and Cole Donhauser just over a minute later took it to 4-1. Ripley’s hat trick at 25:48 preceded a late period Brady Norrish goal that sent Blaze to the final break enjoying a 6-1 cushion that was how the game finished following a scoreless 3rd.
Eamon McAdam was 16 of 22 shots through 2 periods. Taz Burman took over in the 3rd and was 4 for 4 while Tarun Kozun stopped 32 of 33 for Blaze.
“It feels like we are pushing a huge rock up a hill every game at the moment, and our sense of frustration couldn’t be higher,” admitted Paul Dixon.
“We obviously are not playing nearly as well as we know we can, and on top of that every time something could go wrong it seems to be doing just that. We didn’t get dominated in the way the scoreline suggests, but again another period where the opposition sinks a bunch of goals with nothing from us to stay in it.”
“We will have a busy week ahead trying to figure our way out of this, and we will see what we can do to be better in the games ahead.”
