COVENTRY Blaze saw their season come to an end after suffering an 8-3 aggregate defeat against Cardiff Devils in the Elite League play-off quarter-finals.
Blaze lost 2-0 on home ice at the Skydome Arena in the first leg before suffering a 6-3 defeat at the Vindico Arena in the second leg.
Coventry finished the regular season in fifth place, just one place and four points behind the Devils in the Elite League standings.
Nottingham Panthers, led by former Blaze head coach Danny Stewart, went on to beat Cardiff in the play-off final.
In the first leg, Cardiff netminder and Great Britain international Ben Bowns produced a 34-save shutout as the first period ended goalless.
However, the Devils broke the deadlock at 23.20 as Sam Duggan beat Mat Robson with a low effort.
And Cardiff doubled their lead at 31.55 when Tyler Busch outmuscled his marker and forced Ryan Barrow’s pass over the line from close range.
Blaze looked to reduce the deficit only for Bowns to deny Nick Seitz late on to hand Cardiff a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg.
Coventry made the perfect start in Cardiff as Jackson Cressey struck at 1.42 to halve the aggregate deficit.
And Blaze levelled the tie at 14.25 when Morten Jurgens finished a two-on-one break.
However, Cardiff reclaimed the aggregate lead just 24 seconds later as Bradley Schoonbaert speculative effort deflected past Robson and into the net.
Blaze won a penalty shot while short-handed late in the opening period only for Bowns to deny Kim Tallberg and keep Cardiff ahead.
However, Coventry drew level for a second time at 21.22 when Alessio Luciani saw his shot turned into the net by a Devils defenceman.
Cardiff went back in front at 32.26 as Barrow redirected Schoonbaert’s shot past Robson.
And a flurry of third period goals took the game out of Blaze’s reach as Cole Sanford, Duggan, Zach O’Brien and Joey Martin all struck for the home side to bring an end to Coventry’s season.
