COVENTRY Blaze suffered a heavy 6-1 home defeat against Nottingham Panthers in a dress rehearsal of the upcoming Challenge Cup final between the two teams.
Blaze conceded three goals in the first period before Nottingham established a six-goal lead as Grant Mismash netted a late consolation for Coventry at the Skydome Arena.
That came after Coventry lost in a penalty shootout against Sheffield following a 3-3 draw at the end of overtime at the Utilita Arena.
The result means Coventry sit eighth in the Elite League table with a play-off spot now confirmed.
Blaze slipped to a fourth straight league defeat against the Panthers with the two teams to face off in the Challenge Cup final later this month.
Coventry failed to recover from conceding twice in the space of 24 seconds in the first period after Blaze failed to capitalise on a powerplay opportunity.
Nottingham took the lead at 12.02 when Chase Pearson batted the puck out of mid-air and past Blaze netminder Mat Robson.
And the Panthers struck again 24 seconds later as Nolan Volcan converted on a two-on-one breakaway.
The visitors remained on top and extended their lead at 15.42 when Pearson scored his second of the game as he tipped Mitch Fossier’s shot from the point into the net.
Blaze struggled to generate any momentum in the second period before Nottingham scored a fourth goal at 29.07 when Fossier fired home Pearson’s feed.
And the Panthers made sure of the points in the third period as Tim Doherty struck at 46.07 on the powerplay.
Nottingham scored another powerplay goal at 47.32 as Matthew Marcinew made it six for the Panthers to compound Coventry’s misery.
Blaze scored a consolation goal at 54.51 when Mismash found the net after good work from Adam Robbins and Grayson Constable.
Tempers boiled over in the closing stages as Coventry’s Connor Russell and Nottingham’s Cooper Zech received 10-minute penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct following an awkward hit by Marcinew on Mike Pelech.
That came after Blaze pushed title-chasing Sheffield all the way only to suffer a shootout defeat on the road.
Coventry took the lead at 7.04 when Matthew Gleason scored his 18th goal of the season after defenceman Jordan Power jumped into the offence.
The Steelers equalised at 12.30 as Patrick Watling scored at the back post after Reece Kelly’s stretch pass found Joona Huttula.
Blaze almost reclaimed the lead only for Eamon McAdam to deny Mismash on a breakaway before Constable’s redirected effort struck the crossbar.
At the other end, Robson produced a stunning double save to keep out efforts from Kevin Tansey and Mitchell Heard.
Coventry went ahead for a second time at 22.09 when Robbins converted a loose puck on the powerplay after Gleason kept the chance alive.
Sheffield responded at 23.46 as Dominic Cormier forced a loose puck home at the third attempt after Robert Dowd’s initial effort rebounded off Robson.
Blaze took the lead for a third time at 25.02 when Pelech took credit for a play in tight past a sprawling McAdam.
A back-and-forth second period continued at 26.03 as Evan Jasper fired past Robson to level the scores again.
A goalless third period sent the game to overtime with neither side able to strike in a cagey extra period.
However, the Steelers triumphed on penalty shots after Kim Tallberg lost control of his attempt in the final round.
Coventry are next in action against Manchester Storm on Friday, March 13 with the face-off at 7.30pm at Planet Ice Altrincham.
Blaze then host Glasgow Clan on Saturday, March 14 with the face-off at 7pm at the Skydome.
