COVENTRY Blaze produced a sensational late fightback to earn a point in a 4-4 draw against Sheffield Steelers in the Viaplay Elite League at Utilita Arena.
Blaze scored twice in the final two minutes with netminder Paavo Holsa pulled for the extra skater to earn a 4-4 tie in regulation time, but the Steelers went on to win in a shoot-out.
Mitch Cook continued his recent good scoring form by getting the Blaze on the board first at 12.51, tipping a shot past Steelers goalie Matthew Greenfield on the powerplay.
However, the ice tilted in the Steelers’ favour as Sheffield scored two goals in quick succession through Brandon McNally (15.25) and Mason Mitchell (16.03).
Blaze had Holsa to thank for keeping them in the game early in the second period, but he was eventually beaten again by Mitchell at 27.43.
With all of the momentum and heavily out-shooting Coventry, Sheffield made it 4-1 through Robert Dowd (38.05) to give the away side a mountain to climb in the third.
However. it was a challenge Blaze were up to as Colton Yellow Horn cut the deficit to two at 43.09 giving coach Danny Stewart the chance to call a time-out and pull Holsa for the extra man with a few minutes remaining.
Piling pressure on the Steelers and winning crucial face-offs, the Blaze dramatically drew level through Ross Venus (57.30) and David Clements (58.52) to take a point and force an additional period.
Overtime saw huge chances for both teams but the thrilling Viaplay TV game was to be eventually decided by penalty shots.
Sheffield took a 2-0 lead in the shoot-out through Daniel Ciampini and Danny Kristo but again Coventry responded with Jack Billings and Yellow Horn scoring to send it to sudden death.
Billings was denied in the sixth round leaving Kristo to step up again and win the game for Sheffield.
The Blaze are next in action on Saturday, November 12 at the Skydome Arena against Guildford Flames (7pm) with the opportunity to finish top of Group B in the Challenge Cup and gain an advantageous top seed for the quarter-finals.
