Giants Fall in Challenge Cup Final Four

First Period

The visitors had the first chance of the night when Colton Saucerman’s shot went over the top of Jake Kupsky’s net. The Colorado-born D-man was soon sat down for a delay of game penalty during which Carsen Twarynski missed the target while Mike Lee had a shot well tipped over by Mat Robson. Ultimately, the penalty was killed and, just after returning to full strength, Coventry missed a golden opportunity when Grayson Constable steered wide from close range.

That would come back to haunt the away side as, shortly after, Brandon Whistle registered a sparkling assist as he danced through the Blaze defence before teeing up Twarynski, who hammered home to open the scoring on the night and level the tie on aggregate. (1-0)

That gave the hosts confidence, and Ryan Smith came close but was repelled from close range while Jordan Kawaguchi was also denied by a good Robson save. Those saves would look even bigger as, with just over two minutes left in the period, a loose puck in centre ice was pounced upon by Matthew Gleason, and he streaked away before finishing well past Kupsky one-on-one to level the game and re-establish his side’s one-goal aggregate lead as we headed into the first intermission. (1-1)

Second Period

The Giants came out of the traps quickly after the restart, with Kawaguchi prodding just wide and Gabe Bast having a shot held before Ryan Smith fired over. Scott Conway was then binned for a holding call, but the Giants killed that with minimal fuss. Robson had to be alert in his crease to beat Nicolas Guay to a runaway puck as the visitors bent but did not break.

Much like the first period, they soaked up pressure and then hit their hosts with a clinical sucker punch, and it was Gleason again who delivered it. The Minnesota-born forward finished well off an Elijiah Barriga pass to open up a two-goal aggregate lead. (1-2)

Adam Keefe’s men attempted to get back in the game, but Ciaran Long’s effort was held, and Whistle’s wraparound attempt came back off the post. Things would get better for Kevin Moore’s men as Jere Vertanen’s hopeful shot had eyes on it and found its way through a crowd of bodies to nestle in the net. (1-3)

Third Period

The Giants had to come out with a response, and they did with David Goodwin and Conway both causing problems around the net, with the latter of the two forcing a good stop from Robson. However, the Blaze were rapid on the counter again, and they added a fourth through Alessio Luciani. (1-4)

With the clock ticking down, the Giants kept digging away and were rewarded with a goal from Ryan Smith (2-4), before Twarynski grabbed his second of the night to give the home fans some hope. (3-4)

However, with the Giants pulling their netminder to get the extra skater, the Blaze put the game to bed with two late empty net goals. These came via Jack Hopkins (3-5) and Saucerman. (3-6)

Up Next

The Giants remain at home for a crucial double-header against the Cardiff Devils on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 March. Limited tickets remain for each fixture here.