COVENTRY Blaze suffered successive 4-3 defeats against Fife Flyers as Danny Stewart’s side remain rooted to the bottom of the Elite League table.
Blaze conceded in the final seconds before losing in overtime at the Skydome Arena as JD Dudek, Danny Kristo and Alessio Luciani all found the net on home ice.
And Blaze drew level on three separate occasions in defeat in Scotland the following night at the Fife Ice Arena with David Clements, Kobe Roth and Luciani on target.
The results mean Blaze remain bottom of the Elite League standings having won just two of their 10 league matches this season.
Blaze were left stunned by Fife on home ice despite making the perfect start as Dudek opened the scoring after just 20 seconds.
However, Fife levelled through Benjamin Hawerchuk at 14.14 only for Kristo to restore Blaze’s lead on the powerplay at 37.11 in the second period.
And Blaze looked set for victory when Luciani scored a fortuitous goal at 46.34 before Fife reduced the deficit at 51.03 courtesy of Johan Eriksson’s effort from close range.
However, after Fife pulled netminder Shane Owen for the extra skater, Flyers forward Troy Lajeunesse equalised with just two seconds left on the clock to send the game to overtime.
And after Kim Tallberg spurned a golden chance to win the game for Blaze, Colin Shirley netted for Fife at 61.54 to leave Coventry stunned.
The following night, the two teams faced off again in Scotland as Shirley picked up where he left off to open the scoring for Fife at 1.09.
However, Clements levelled for Blaze at 5.58 only for Flyers to retake the lead through Lucas Chiodo’s goal at 12.40.
The highlight of the night for Blaze came at 29.03 when American forward Roth successfully converted a Michigan attempt, putting his name forward for goal of the season.
Fife took the lead for a third time when Eriksson scored for the second game in succession at 36.46 as Blaze unsuccessfully challenged the strike for goalie interference.
However, Blaze tied the game late on at 56.49 through Luciani only for Fife to win the game 18 seconds later as Kyle Osterberg netted at the back post.
Head Coach Danny Stewart said: “It was a tough weekend for us. We found a way to lose two hockey games.
“On Saturday we were in complete control and switched off. Sunday was back and forth with not a lot of shots either way, but we made a couple of big mistakes again and it cost us.
“It’s a long season and there is a lot of hockey left, we’re not playing badly but bad decisions are hurting us and it’s up to me to fix things.”
Blaze are next in action at home to Dundee Stars on Saturday, November 25 with the face-off at 7pm at the Skydome Arena.
