COVENTRY Blaze bounced back from their Challenge Cup final defeat with a convincing victory against Fife Flyers before defeat against Guildford Flames.
Blaze thrashed Fife 7-3 at the Skydome Arena as Grant Mismash and Adam Robbins both scored twice for the home side.
However, Blaze then drew a blank against the Flames following a 4-0 defeat at the Guildford Spectrum as Coventry failed to score in a match for just the fourth time this season.
The results mean Coventry sit seventh in the Elite League standings.
Blaze had to recover from an early deficit against bottom-of-the-table Fife as Coventry took to the ice for the first time since their Challenge Cup final defeat against Nottingham Panthers.
Fife broke the deadlock at 7.18 as Ben Brown capitalised on a rebound to score his first professional goal.
And the Flyers struck again at 9.56 when Justin Ducharme finished off a broken play into a virtually empty net.
However, Coventry responded on the powerplay at 13.02 as Robbins struck after good work from Jordan Power following a turnover forced by Jere Vertanen.
And Blaze equalised at 13.51 when Artem Buzoverya reacted quickest to turn home a rebound.
Fife reclaimed the lead in the second period at 24.43 as Ducharme slipped behind the defence and found the net with a sharp wrist shot.
Blaze head coach Kevin Moore responded to the setback by calling a timeout.
And Coventry equalised straight from the restart at 24.57 when William Boysen scored from Elijiah Barriga’s toe-drag and pass.
Blaze took the lead at 25.41 as Mismash finished Grayson Constable’s feed to reach the 20-goal mark for the season.
And the home side extended their lead at 36.35 when short-handed as Power produced a clinical finish.
Coventry sealed the points at 50.04 as Mismash tipped Colton Saucerman’s shot into the net.
And Robbins completed the scoring at 56.50 with his second goal of the game.
However, Coventry then suffered defeat at Guildford to bring an end to Blaze’s three-game winning run in the Elite League.
Blaze went close early on as Flames netminder Justin Fazio denied Alessio Luciani with Barriga unable to convert the rebound.
Coventry head coach Moore challenged the play, believing the puck had crossed the line only for the review to rule no goal had been scored while Blaze had to kill a penalty following the unsuccessful challenge.
And Guildford took the lead at 16.08 after Dershahn Stewart denied Sam Talbot only for Josh Waller to react quickest to turn home the rebound.
Neither side troubled the scoreboard in the second period as both teams squandered powerplay opportunities.
However, the Flames doubled their lead at 41.53 when a Blaze powerplay went awry which led to a three-on-one counter attack as Tyler Busch found the net with Guildford short-handed.
Blaze killed an extended five-on-three penalty later in the third period only to lose netminder Stewart to injury as Joel Bearman ventured onto the ice for his senior debut.
The home side sealed the points at 57.31 as Waller scored his second of the game before Jack Jacome completed the scoring with one second remaining on the powerrplay after Power and Tyler Preziuso dropped the gloves.
Coventry are next in action against Fife on Saturday, March 28 with the face-off at 7pm at Fife Ice Arena.
Blaze then host Cardiff Devils on Sunday, March 29 with the face-off at 5.30pm at the Skydome.
