Coventry Blaze got what they needed on home ice with a 4-3 win over the visiting Flames to secure their playoff spot next weekend. Flames will go head to head with Manchester Storm in their Playoff Quarter Final series.
Nick Ouellet bagged his first goal in Flames gear at 6:06. A pair of Blaze replies by Jack Hopkins and Ian McNulty shortly thereafter and just 75 seconds apart set them in front, but a 17th minute Ben O’Connor strike on the powerplay brought the game back level by the end of the 1st.
Alessio Luciani nudged Blaze back in front just 69 seconds after re-start and Aidan Spellacy doubled their lead beyond the evening’s midway point and that made all the difference against only a late 3rd period Lewis Hook reply.
Taz Burman made 16 saves on 20 shots against Taran Kozun who was 42 for 45.
"We were hoping we could pull that one back in the 3rd period, and we put a lot of pressure on them to be able to do that, but could only get the one," said Paul Dixon.
"You always want to finish the regular season with a win, but either way we have work to do this week in practice to get ready for the Quarter Final against Manchester."
"They are a team that has had our number on a lot of nights, and probably the team that needs the most adjustlemt to our game in terms of playing in their rink with a much smaller ice pad."
"They have a good side and this week will be about just being focused on putting in the very best effort each of us can in order to deliver a performance over two games ahead to try and get back to the playoff finals. It is an exciting time of the year and we are looking forward to the challange that Storm present."
