Cardiff Devils suffered a final period nightmare in Coventry and blew their chance of becoming Elite League leaders.
These teams meet again at the Viola Arena in Cardiff Bay this evening and the match is already a 3,000-plus sell-out.
Head coach Andrew Lord and his Devils led twice against Blaze and would have gone top with a win, but conceded three goals in the third period.
Blaze emerged 4-3 winners at their Skydome home and coach Lord said: “Coventry got better as the game went on, while we took our foot off the game in the second.
“If you don’t put a team away the result is up for grabs.
“We lost some critical battles at critical times on powerplays and a couple of goals against. We have to regroup tomorrow.”
Thoughts from Andrew Lord after tonight’s game and looking ahead to the return fixture tomorrow night 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/sQP6VxZO4a
— Cardiff Devils (@cardiffdevils) December 26, 2018
Gleason Fournier was man of the match for Devils and he scored twice with Matt Pope netting their first after 11 seconds.
Ross Venus scored the winner for Coventry Blaze with two minutes 14 seconds left in regulation time.
American Chris Joyaux assisted on the goal and said: “Ross repainted his stick before the match and I told him he would score because of that.”
Head coach Danny Stewart was delighted with the victory, saying: “We played a great hockey game and it was a great team effort.
“I liked our balance and even at 2-1 down we deserved more.
“Cardiff have one heck of a team and offensively they are as dangerous as any team in Elite League.”
Devils took the lead through Pope after 11 seconds, but Blaze were level inside five minutes thanks to Dillon Lawrence. Fournier had the visitors ahead again with 14-08 gone, a lead which the Welsh side held into the third period.
Some 30 minutes after the last goal, former Devils forward Tim Crowder levelled for Blaze with his 12th goal of the season and the home team took the lead at 45-40 with Ben Lake’s powerplay goal.
Fournier was on target again to tie things up for the Devils at 51-51, but with 57-44 gone Venus scored his 50th Blaze goal in his 500th appearance for the club.
MILESTONES: #56 Kevin Noble is set to play his 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th game in @officialEIHL competitions tonight. #22 Alex Nikiforuk will make it 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ (Nottingham and Us) pic.twitter.com/YkN9gnHpxs
— Coventry Blaze 🐲🏒 (@covblazehockey) December 27, 2018
Match stats:
Scorers, Blaze: Dillon Lawrence 1+0, Tim Crowder 1+1, Ross Venus 1+0, Luke Ferrara 0+1, Nicolai Bryhnisveen 0+1, Shawn Pauly 0+1, Chris Joyaux 0+2, Alex Nikiforuk 0+1.
Devils: Gleason Fournier 2+0, Matt Pope 1+1, Mark Richardson 0+1, Sean Bentivoglio 0+1, Joey Martin 0+1, Jake Morissette 0+1, Joey Haddad 0+1.
Period scores (Blaze first) 1-2; 0-0 (1-2); 3-1 (4-3).
Shots on goal: Blaze (on Bowns) 12+9+9=30; Devils (on Kopriva) 11+10+10=31.
Penalties in minutes: Blaze 0+2+0=2; 2+2+2=6.
Special teams: Blaze PK 1/1, PP 1/3; Devils PK 2/3, PP 0/1.
Stars of the game: Blaze, Dillon Lawrence; Devils, Gleason Fournier
Referees: Andrew Dalton and Andrew Miller
Attendance: 2,269
Other Boxing Day results: Nottingham Panthers 2, Sheffield Steelers 3; Manchester Storm 3, Glasgow Clan 5; MK Lightning 0, Guildford Flames 1; Dundee Stars 5, Fife Flyers 4.
Remaining Devils fixtures in 2018:
December
Thursday 27 v Coventry Blaze (home, 7pm) SOLD OUT
Sunday 30 v Guildford Flames (away, 6pm)
TICKETS for Devils home games available ONLINE HERE or by calling 0800 0842 666 or in person at the reception desk at VIOLA ARENA right up until face-off.