Coventry Blaze 3 - 2 Cardiff Devils

Faceoff: 17:30 - 31/12/11

 A late show from Blaze saw them tie the game late in regulation and then win it in overtime with Owen Fussey stepping up to the plate with both of the vital strikes.

It’s a 4^th straight home win for Blaze to end the year but a couple of road losses in successive nights for Devils.

Both sides wasted no time in getting into this game with Blaze opening the scoring after only 50 seconds thanks to Shea Guthrie but Devils were back on terms at 2.53 with Jeff Pierce on target.

After that explosive beginning it was Devils who settled the better but there was no addition to the scoring at the first period interval.

And that’s exactly how at remained throughout the middle period also, the difference being that Blaze were very much the dominant team during that session.

The deadlock was broken however after 2.53 of the 3^rd period as Scott Dobben fired Devils ahead on the powerplay and with the visitors seemingly able to hold on to their lead while continuing to look the more dangerous it was against the run of play when Fussey set the Skydome alight when tying the game at 56.34.

The momentum was now with the home side and when the game went into overtime it was Fussey again who grabbed the winner at 62.04 to ensure it was a positive ending to a difficult year for Paul Thompson’s side as they move above Sheffield and into 3^rd spot in the standings.

Period Scores: 1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0
Penalty Mins: Cov 22 – Car 10
Powerplay: Cov 0/4 – Car 1/5
Shots On: Peter Hirsch 38 – Stevie Lyle 29
Referee: Andy Carson