COVENTRY Blaze produced two fine performances to beat Dundee Stars and Glasgow Clan in a four-point weekend in the Elite League.
Blaze were at their sparkling best to beat the Stars 5-1 in Scotland on Bonfire Night before Coventry saw off Glasgow 3-0 at the Skydome Arena.
The results mean Blaze sit second in the Elite League table, seven points behind Guildford Flames with two games in hand.
And Blaze scored four unanswered points in the first period to blow their opponents away as captain Nathanael Halbert struck after just 19 seconds.
Coventry doubled their lead through David Clements at 3.44 before forward Johnny Curran scored his seventh goal of the regular season on the powerplay at 7.12.
The visitors took the game out of Dundee’s reach when centreman Peyton Frantti scored at 13.16 before he was later involved in a scuffle with Ian Parker which led to a five-minute penalty for fighting.
Blaze extended their lead when Curran grabbed his second of the game at 20.38, assisted by Colton Yellow Horn who, along with Halbert, has 18 points which ranks joint-second in the Elite League.
However, Philippe Sanche broke man of the match Paavo Holsa’s shutout at 40.24 in what proved to be the only blot on the scorecard for Blaze.
And Blaze continued their fine form against Glasgow as Halbert opened the scoring at 7.58 assisted by Yellow Horn.
Swede Kim Tallberg then scored just before the half-way mark which was the only goal in an even second period.
Both teams had two powerplay opportunities in the third, but neither team was able to convert with Blaze netminder Paavo Holsa remaining particularly strong to collect his second man of the match award in as many nights.
With Glasgow chasing a way back into the game, they pulled netminder John Muse for the extra skater later in the game leaving the net wide open for Tallberg to score his second from almost 200-feet.
Head Coach Danny Stewart said: “I don’t think we were great tonight. We didn’t seem to have the legs after the bus trip last night but we found a way and credit to the guys.”
Blaze are next in action away at Sheffield Steelers on Wednesday, November 9 with the face-off at 7.30pm at Sheffield Arena.
