The first period saw plenty of promising play from the new look Manchester Storm, who for the majority of the period were in control of the ice. However, a few lapses in concentration cost the Storm dearly as the Blaze were able to slot the puck past Clemente in the Storm goal on two separate occasions within minutes of each other, firstly by Bjorn Bombis to open the scoring, followed by Brett Robinson.

The second period faired MUCH better for the Storm, but it wasn’t easy. Within 30 seconds, the Blaze had added another to their total, with a fortuitous goal by Robin Bergman. The Storm however dug deep, and minutes later were on the board when Cody Cartier blasted past Marr in the Coventry net to score the Storms first goal of the 2016/17 season. This was followed by Paul Phillips pouncing on a mistake by the Blaze, to bag the second for the Storm. The play was end to end, and big hits were occurring all over the ice, but Adam Harding, the Storms new #4, scored a beautiful goal past the Blaze goaltender to tie things up not half way through the 2nd. Paul Phillips however was not content, and took the puck by himself end to end, and let rip with what was possibly the goal of the game, to put the Storm up 4-3!

With the players out on the ice for the third period, tensions were running high. The Blaze got on the board first, with Matt Marquardt evening things up early in the period. The thrilling end to end hockey continued and Cody Cartier struck home soon after for the Storms 5th of the night. This was followed quickly by the Storms 6th, as Super Mario Trabucco converted to send the Storm Shelter wild! Matt Marquardt then grabbed himself another goal & number 5 for the Blaze whilst on the power play, and this was followed quickly by their 6th when Robin Bergman slotted one past with 48 seconds remaining on the clock. After 60 minutes of intense pre-season hockey, the scores were tied, and we headed into the new 3-on-3 “sudden death” over time!

The thrilling 3-on-3 OT, which was end to end, has been adopted for the upcoming season after a successful trial in the NHL. Despite numerous chances, the Storm were unable to convert, and whilst on a quick break, the Blaze were able to spoil the first game back after the off-season for the Storm fans when Brett Robinson poked one home with 2:29 to go. All in all, an exhilarating game of ice hockey for pre-season, and we do it all again this Saturday night at HOME vs the Sheffield Steelers @ 7pm!

Final Score: Manchester Storm 6 Coventry Blaze 7 (After OT)