COVENTRY Blaze suffered back-to-back defeats in the Elite League after losing successive games against Dundee Stars and Guildford Flames respectively.
Blaze suffered a 6-4 defeat at Dundee Ice Arena despite a brace from Grant Mismash in Scotland.
Coventry then suffered a 3-2 home defeat against Guildford at the Skydome after Blaze had initially recovered from a two-goal deficit.
The results mean Coventry sit seventh in the Elite League table.
Against Dundee, Blaze made a bright start and had an early opportunity with Dundee’s Zachary Taylor called for tripping after just 72 seconds.
And just 22 seconds after the powerplay expired, Coventry broke the deadlock at 3.34 as Grayson Constable opened the scoring from Alessio Luciani’s feed.
However, Dundee levelled the game on the powerplay at 11.20 when former Blaze forward Johnny Curran found the net.
And the hosts took the lead at 16.43 as Keanu Yamamoto made no mistake with a composed finish past Blaze netminder Dershahn Stewart.
The Stars struck again early in the second period when Bradley Schoonbaert tipped home a shot at 21.20 to leave Coventry facing a two-goal deficit.
Dundee moved three goals ahead at 28.23 as the puck fell kindly to Yamamoto who scored his second of the game.
The home side’s fourth goal of the game prompted Blaze head coach Kevin Moore to call a timeout in an attempt to rally his side.
However, Dundee scored again at 33.40 as Spencer Naas put the home side firmly in command.
Blaze reduced the deficit at 35.38 when Mismash found space in the slot and finished well.
And Coventry struck again at 39.41 as Luciani squeezed a shot past Dundee netminder Emil Kruse.
Blaze spurned a powerplay chance in the third period before Mismash rifled home his second of the game at 46.45 to close the gap between the teams to a single goal.
However, Dundee sealed the points at 59.22 when Drydn Dow finished into an empty net after Blaze pulled Stewart for an extra skater inside the final couple of minutes.
Coventry then slipped to a home defeat against Guildford as Blaze recalled netminder Mat Robson to the starting side in place of Stewart.
Guildford broke the deadlock at 13.44 following a frantic opening period as Charlie Curti fired a shot past Robson from range.
And the Flames struck again at 19.47 as Mathieu Gosselin found the net after Mack Stewart and Connor Russell committed consecutive infractions which left the visitors with a five-on-three advantage.
Blaze halved the deficit at 27.05 when Mismash won a battle along the blue line and snapped a shot past Justin Fazio.
And Coventry equalised at 29.46 as Mismash scored a quickfire double capped by a fine solo goal after he collected the puck from deep in his own zone and skated the length of the ice.
However, Guildford reclaimed the lead at 33.13 when Marcus Tesink redirected Tyler Busch’s slap pass into the net.
Blaze searched for an equaliser in the third period as Fazio denied Jack Hopkins from close range and also kept out Artie Buzoverya’s backhand effort from point-blank range.
Russell and Gosselin clashed late on which led to a Blaze powerplay with Robson pulled for an extra skater but the home side could not make their six-on-four advantage count as Constable hit the post.
Coventry are next in action against Belfast Giants in the second leg of their Challenge Cup semi-final tie on Wednesday, March 4 with the face-off at 7pm at SSE Arena Belfast.
