Sat 7 Nov 2026 - 9:25PM
7TH NOVEMBER 2026: BLAZE 4-3 PANTHERS
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Nottingham Panthers suffered defeat at the Skydome Arena as Coventry Blaze skated to a 4-3 victory in the Motorpoint Elite League.
Ollie Betteridge is on Great Britain duty in Poland so missed the game, but captain Matt Alfaro returned to the line-up after three weeks out with an injury.
Mat Robson started between the pipes with Luca Sheldon as back-up.
O'Brien scores twice in first period
Blaze forward Colby MacArthur hit the outside of the pipes and Robson made a good save to deny Griffin Ness.
The hosts went ahead when Jaxson Ezman fed defenceman Márkó Csollák to score with a bullet from left-point (12:34).
Zach O'Brien netted twice in 99 seconds as first Joe Hazeldine's shot was saved and the Panthers forward scored on the rebound from a tight angle (16:34).
He then forced a turnover in the offensive zone and his shot towards net was deflected into the path of Chase Pearson who fed O'Brien to score his second (18:13).
Three quick Blaze goals stun Panthers
Coventry blitzed the Panthers with three goals in just over six minutes at the start of the second period.
Good stick-handling by William Boysen saw Blaze equalise on the powerplay (21:35) and Ryan Richardson buried a rebound soon after (23:16).
Carson Musser fired through traffic from the blueline (26:04) to leave Panthers stunned.
Blaze secure two points
Aiden Hansen-Bukata shot just wide from left-point and Tim Doherty had two chances on a third-period powerplay.
Hansen-Bukata and O'Brien combined with a well-worked move to set-up Ben Corbeil to score on the powerplay from the slot (52:07).
Robson was lifted for the extra skater but despite a couple of looks at goal, Panthers could find no way through and left the Skydome empty-handed.
Double-header part two in Nottingham on Sunday
The two sides meet again at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham tomorrow (Sunday - 16:00 face-off).
Limited tickets remain so you're advised to secure your seats as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Be part of the #PanthersNation for another important night in the Motorpoint Elite League. The game is sponsored by WAGO.