COVENTRY Blaze secured their place in the post-season play-offs with back-to-back wins against Cardiff Devils and Guildford Flames.
Blaze ended their seven-game losing run with a 5-0 win at Vindico Arena in Cardiff before claiming a 4-3 victory on home ice against Guildford in the final game of the regular season.
The results mean Blaze finished sixth in the Elite League standings and will now face third-placed Belfast Giants in the quarter-finals of the play-offs.
Against Cardiff, despite Blaze having Blake Thompson in the box for slashing, Kim Tallberg opened the scoring at 16.45 while shorthanded.
And Blaze doubled their lead at 35.38 when Johnny Curran beat Great Britian international Ben Bowns before Mitch Cook poked home from close range at 37.13.
The visitors sealed the points as Alessio Luciani’s speculative effort found the top corner at 49.19 before Kobe Roth completed the scoring at 57.47.
Former Devils Taran Kozun claimed the man of the match award after recording a 34-shot shutout against his former side.
And Blaze sealed their place in the post-season play-offs with a narrow final day win against Guildford.
Flames broke the deadlock at 6.06 when Nicolas Ouellet scored on the rebound only for Blaze to draw level on the eight-minute mark as Jack Hopkins scored his second goal of the season on an odd man rush.
Blaze completed the turnaround at 9.15 when Ian McNulty struck against his former side before Ben O’Connor to equalise for Flames at 16.32 just seconds after a powerplay had ended.
The home side reclaimed the lead at 21.09 as Luciani snuck in-behind and converted when one-on-one with Taz Burman before Aidan Spellacy extended Blaze’s lead at 33.33.
Kozun made a stunning save at the end of the second period before Lewis Hook reduced the deficit for Flames at 53.28 as Blaze held on to secure an Elite League play-off place.
The first leg of the quarter-final takes place at SSE Arena Belfast on Saturday, April 13 with the face-off at 7pm with the return leg at the Skydome on Sunday, April 14 with the face-off at 5.30pm.
