COVENTRY Blaze suffered a shootout defeat against Belfast Giants before beating Dundee Stars in overtime on home ice.
Blaze lost 3-2 against league leaders Belfast at the SSE Arena as Chase Gresock and Terrance Amorosa struck to send the game to overtime.
However, the Giants eventually triumphed on penalty shots with Blaze unable to find a way past Jackson Whistle in the Belfast net.
Coventry responded with a 3-2 overtime win against Dundee at the Skydome Arena as Mike Kennedy scored the game’s decisive goal.
The results mean Blaze sit fifth in the Elite League table.
Against Belfast, a penalty-ridden first period ended goalless with seven minor penalties split between the two sides.
However, Blaze broke the deadlock on the powerplay at 21.27 when Gresock scored his 17th goal of the season from Brandon Alderson’s assist with Belfast’s Gabe Best serving a two-minute penalty for a check to the head.
The Giants drew level at 24.39 with a powerplay goal of their own as Scott Conway equalised for the home side with Blaze’s Alexander Kuqali in the box for tripping.
And Belfast completed the turnaround at 28.11 as Grant Mismash produced fine stickwork to navigate through the Blaze defence and beat Mat Robson.
Coventry levelled the game on the powerplay in the third period at 44.49 when Amorosa’s powerful shot from the point found the back of the net.
The game remained deadlocked until the end of regulation time and the five-minute overtime period with the match to be decided on penalties.
And Whistle saved all of Blaze’s attempts as Mismash and JJ Piccinich scored for Belfast as Blaze came away from the fixture with one point.
However, Coventry responded in style to earn a fourth straight home win against Dundee at the Skydome.
Blaze made a red-hot start as Alessio Luciani opened the scoring at 3.47 when he was left in space to snipe a shot past Jarrett Fiske.
And Coventry doubled their lead at 8.16 as defenceman Jakob Stridsberg’s well-placed shot found the net.
The visitors lost Ben O’Connor to a five-minute major penalty for boarding with Blaze unable to capitalise on the resulting powerplay.
Dundee halved the deficit at 31.32 when Zach Tsekos finished a bouncing puck after a misjudged pass allowed the Stars to launch a short-handed counter attack.
And the Stars equalised at 57.54 as Brett Gravelle struck to send the game to overtime.
However, Blaze won the game just 1.43 into the extra period as blue-liner Kennedy scored his first professional goal to secure the points.
The home side had netminder Robson to thank for the victory after he made 42 saves throughout the course of the contest.
Coventry are next in action against Guildford Flames on Wednesday, January 29 with the face-off at 7.30pm at the Skydome.
