Coventry Blaze 5-0 Nottingham Panthers (Elite League) 02.03.22
The Nottingham Panthers suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Blaze in Coventry on Wednesday night.
Kevin Carr started in goal for the Panthers opposite C.J. Motte for the Blaze.
Both sides exchanged power play opportunities inside a close fought opening ten minutes but on their second man-advantage of the night Luke Ferrara (14.30) fired the hosts in front.
Coventry then scored two in 27 seconds to see out the period with a commanding lead.
First John Curran (17.01) fired through traffic & beyond Carr before Evan Bloodoff (17.28) put the Blaze ahead by three after 20 minutes of play.
A turnover behind the Panthers’ net inside the first minute of the second period proved catastrophic as Janne Laakkonen increased the home team’s lead to 4-0 and Nottingham’s mountain to climb got even higher.
Carr had to come up big on multiple occasions as the period wore on to prevent Coventry adding to their lead & after 40 minutes of play Nottingham had it all to do.
Curran (43.38) got his second of the game as the Blaze broke in two-on-one early in the third period to douse any faint hopes the Panthers had of a famous comeback.
Baillargeon & Tousignant (who had to sit out most of the second period after getting cut by a skate) tested Motte inside the final ten minutes of the third period but it was too little pressure too late for the visiting Panthers.
Coventry saw out the remaining minutes without incident, almost adding a sixth but for a tremendous pad save by Carr, and skated out of the SkyDome with the two Premier Sports Elite League points on offer.
The Panthers will be looking to bounceback from Wednesday night’s disappointing result in Coventry when they take on the Manchester Storm in back-to-back games this coming weekend.
On Saturday night the Panthers travel to Altrincham to take on Manchester on the road, for the final time this season, and the Storm Shelter hasn’t been a happy hunting ground in recent times for Nottingham who have lost all three fixtures they have played there in 2022.
Nottingham then return home to the Motorpoint Arena, for the first of only two games on home-ice during March, on Sunday afternoon (face-off 4.00pm) for the return fixture against Manchester which will be the final time the teams face each other in the 2021/22 regular campaign.
*Main image @PanthersIHC it wasn’t a good night for the Panthers in Coventry.
