DANNY Stewart admitted Coventry Blaze’s problems lie in the head after his side suffered three losses in as many nights during a miserable weekend in Scotland.
The Blaze played Dundee on Friday, Fife on Saturday and concluded their trip with a clash against the Elite League’s bottom side – Edinburgh – on Sunday night.
Despite the addition of American prospects Barry Almeida and T.J. Syner, the Skydome outfit left Scotland pointless and now sit bottom of the Elite League table – level on points with Edinburgh who have three games in hand.
Following a hard-fought home win against Braehead last Sunday, Blaze fans travelled north of the border with plenty of reason to be hopeful.
However some of this hope was dashed as only Ross Venus managed to find the back of the net with a penalty shot just minutes before the final buzzer, Blaze losing 5-1.
A late comeback proved too little too late on Saturday night as Stewart’s side missed out by a goal, despite trailing 4-0 before the game had passed 30 minutes – one of those goals coming while the Flyers were shorthanded with just three skaters.
Garrett Klotz, T.J. Syner and Josh Godfrey brought Coventry back into the game though with three goals in the space of eight minutes.
However the Flyers held on to inflict a second successive defeat for the Blaze.
The side’s third defeat occurred tonight (Sunday) as Edinburgh Capitals put eight passed the Blaze defence to win 8-2.
A goal from skipper Jordan Pietrus helped the Blaze respond to two early goals from the home side, however Edinburgh proved themselves to be the much stronger side as they defeated Blaze for the second time this season at home.
They added three goals in both the second and third periods while Blaze fans could only celebrate a late marker from new recruit Barry Almeida.
Blaze head coach Danny Stewart told Clean Cut Sports post game: “It’s disappointing for everyone involved and for the fans that travelled.
“The third game of the weekend is always going to be tough but the damage was done on Friday.
“We’ve got to find a way to pick ourselves back up.
“The effort was there tonight, but every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net.
“It’s up to me to get that confidence back in the camp – I would like to think we’ve hit rock bottom.”
