COVENTRY Blaze remain winless in the Challenge Cup after losing to Guildford Flames and Nottingham Panthers respectively.
Blaze suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat against the Flames at the Guildford Spectrum before losing 3-2 in overtime at home to the Panthers at the Skydome Arena.
Against Guildford, Flames netminder Eamon McAdam recorded a 27-shot shutout while the home also scored three goals on the powerplay.
The Flames took the lead at 4.05 when Travis Brown fired a shot past Mat Robson on the powerplay following a goalmouth scramble.
And Guildford stretched their lead in the second period at 21.36 when Ryan Tait finished from close range.
Guildford struck again at 27.27 as Matt Alvaro slotted the puck past Robson.
And two goals in the space of 23 seconds in the third period ended the game as a contest.
Alvaro grabbed his second goal of the night on the powerplay at 42.41 before Daniel Catenacci netted moments later at 43.04.
And Tait completed the scoring at 45.58 on the powerplay to score his second of the game.
The following night, Blaze welcomed former head coach Danny Stewart back to the Skydome for the first time since he departed for Elite League rivals Nottingham in April.
The visitors broke the deadlock at 9.33 when Logan Neilson capitalised on a puck battle in front of Robson to open the scoring.
And Nottingham doubled their lead at 15.07 with a powerplay goal from captain Sam Herr.
Only a highlight reel save from Robson kept Blaze in the contest before the end of the first period.
Robson’s save sparked Blaze into life as Chase Gresock eventually made the home side’s pressure count at 29.32, sneaking the puck past Rok Stojanovič after a period of sustained pressure.
And Mike Regush levelled the game at 33.22 from Gresock’s slick pass with neither side able to find a winner in the third period to send the game to overtime.
However, Panthers scored the decisive goal at 63.05 when Tim Doherty deflected Matt Spencer’s pass into the net.
Blaze head coach, Kevin Moore, said: “I think for most of the second period to the end of the game we were playing Blaze hockey.
“We had over 50 shots which is insane. We were skating and working, and the compete level was much higher [than against Guildford].
“My heart breaks for the guys as they deserved better, but that’s hockey sometimes.”
Coventry continue their Challenge Cup campaign away at Manchester Storm on Friday, October 4 with the face-off at 7.30pm at Planet Ice Altrincham.
Blaze then host Guildford on Saturday, October 5 with the face-off at 7pm at the Skydome.
