Narrow defeat for Manchester Storm

A SUDDEN-DEATH penalty shoot-out brought agonising defeat for Manchester Storm ice hockey team away to Coventry Blaze on Sunday.

The final score was Coventry Blaze 3 – 2 Manchester Storm.

The first period was filled with fast-paced action from both teams, with a Blaze powerplay allowing Robin Bergman to score at 7:28. Manchester Storm retaliated with a score-levelling shot from Darian Dziurzynski at 8:36, which he followed by taking the lead for Storm with another brilliant goal at 13:39. The second score of the game also marked Dziurzynski’s 25th goal of the Elite League season.

Manchester held their lead through the second period and well into the third, with goalie Mike Clemente closely guarding the Storm’s goal. With just 2 minutes 35 seconds left of the game, Coventry’s T.J. Syner managed to score, equalising the score at 2-2 which meant the match had to go into overtime.

Neither side managed to score in the 3v3 overtime, pushing the game into a sudden-death penalty shoot-out. Coventry Blaze goalie Brian Stewart blocked three Storm attempts on the goal by Dziurzynski, Heatley and finally Patrik Valcak, earning him the title of Blaze Man of the Match.

Coventry’s Matt Marquardt managed to get past Clemente in the Storm goal to score, winning the match for Coventry and sealing Storm’s narrow defeat in a hard-fought game of hockey.

Safe journey home to the fans of the @Mcr_Storm thanks for making the trip ? pic.twitter.com/fA3JxAEmQz

— Coventry Blaze (@covblazehockey) February 26, 2017

Darian Dziurzynski was named Manchester Storm’s Man of the Match for his brilliant performance through the game.

Coventry Blaze’s YouTube account posted a video of the highlights of the match, which you can enjoy below.