COVENTRY Blaze suffered a 5-3 home defeat against Elite League champions Belfast Giants before losing 5-2 at Guildford Flames in the Challenge Cup.
Despite goals from Kobe Ruth, Ian McNulty and David Clements, Blaze just fell short against Belfast at the Skydome.
And Blaze then suffered a 5-2 defeat at Guildford in the Challenge Cup with Roth and McNulty on target again for Blaze at the Spectrum.
Against Belfast, former Blaze forward Johnny Curran opened the scoring just 18 seconds into his Skydome return to hand the Giants the lead before Ciaran Long doubled Belfast’s lead at 2.25.
However, Blaze responded in the second period as Roth scored at 25.27 and McNulty struck at 35.28 from Danny Kristo’s stunning pass to draw Coventry level.
Another former Blaze player, Ben Lake, restored Belfast’s lead at 38.03 before Greg Printz extended the away side’s lead at 43.59 on the powerplay.
Blaze reduced the deficit through Clements just 57 seconds later only for Long’s second goal of the game at 58.55 to seal the win for Belfast.
In the Challenge Cup, Guildford took the lead at 12.50 when Ben O’Connor scored on the powerplay before Logan Fredericks made it two-nil at 15.05.
Blaze halved the deficit through Roth just 72 seconds into the second period only for Brian Lemos to restore Guildford’s two-goal advantage.
Tempers flared at the halfway mark as Tyler Kirkup was called for roughing which was followed by a fight between Nathan Ripley and Jordan Klimek shortly after.
The visitors closed the gap to a single goal for a second time at 31.00 as McNulty took full advantage of Kyle Locke’s assessment for a cross-checking penalty.
However, Guildford eventually took the game out of Blaze’s reach as Fredericks grabbed his second of the game before Peter Crinella completed the scoring.
Blaze head coach, Danny Stewart, said: “Guildford were a lot more urgent that we were, and they won more battles than us and were relentless on the forecheck and on the puck and we didn’t match it.
“Tonight, just wasn’t good enough and there are no excuses. If guys can’t play back-to-back nights, then they shouldn’t be playing pro hockey.
“Last night was a high paced and physical game and it looked to me like guys were fatigued tonight. It’s not an excuse you have to play back-to-back night’s and that’s for me to sort out.”
Coventry are next in Elite League action against Manchester Storm on Wednesday, November 1 with the face-off at 7.30pm at the Skydome.
