Blaze take first leg lead

Photo: Scott Wiggins

Coventry Blaze will take a one-goal lead with them to Belfast next week after a 3-2 home win over Belfast Giants in the first leg of their Challenge Cup semi-final.

“I thought it was two really good teams going at it tonight,” said Blaze Goalie Mat Robson. “It was good to get an early lead and get the fans into it. They were great the whole night, and we’re really happy to come out of a hard-fought game.”

Less than two minutes in, the hosts opened the scoring with a backhanded shot from Jack Hopkins that snuck through the near side of Alexis Gravel’s pads and into the net. A minute later, the Giants had three consecutive shots on Robson but couldn’t convert any of them.

Just before the nine-minute mark, Ben Lake got the puck past Robson to tie the game, with the Blaze netminder’s line of sight blocked by a tussle in front of goal. With 8:37 left in the period, Nicolas Guay headed to the box for the first penalty of the evening. Five seconds after the powerplay ended, Jordan Powers’ shot on Gravel rebounded off the boards behind the net and fell perfectly for Tallberg to slot home and restore the lead.

"The noise was fantastic tonight. It gives the guys confidence to to make big play, put their body on the line, and know it really means something," explained Robson. "We do it for each other, but when the fans are loud like that it makes it so exciting."

Just 22 seconds into the second period, Colton Saucerman went to the box to give the Giants a man advantage, but they were unable to convert. Four minutes into the period, Robson made a stunning save to deny the Giants on an odd-man rush. Seconds before the halfway mark of the game, Scott Conway tied it after a J.J. Piccinich shot rebounded off Robson’s pads and landed perfectly for Conway to slot into the open net to make it 2-2.

The Blaze responded with just over three minutes left in the period. David Clements passed across the ice to Grayson Constable, who sold a fake shot to perfection before tucking the puck into an open net to put the hosts back ahead.

Neither team scored in the third, leaving the Blaze one goal up after 60 of the 120-minute series.

“It’s nice to go to Belfast with a lead, but it’s the same game and the same job,” added Robson. “We’re still going to be focussed just as tonight, we’re not celebrating anything. We have a job to do there, and obviously a couple of games to take care of this weekend before that.”