An energetic first period of this Charity Shield at the Skydome Arena saw Steelers, minus injured hardman Andrew Sharp, go behind to a goal from Carlyle Lewis after just 98 seconds.
With plenty of shots at both ends of the ice only an inspired JF Perras save from a shot made by Doug Sheppard prevented Steelers from levelling. A minute later, Coventry captain Adam Calder doubled the Blaze lead with a powerplay tap in past Jody Lehman.
After a 15 minute break in the company of Coach Matsos it was a different Steelers side that took to the Skydome ice for the second period.
What are your views on the result? Post your comments below.A setback on the powerplay allowed Adam Calder to make it 3-0 to Blaze though, with Ryan Finnerty the offender to give the man advantage.
With Coventry taking a number of penalties, captain Jonathan Phillips was the first to benefit, bundling a loose puck beyond Perras just before the half hour, and Nathan Gillies fired an excellent shot into the net just over a minute later.
Steelers' momentum led them to an equaliser five minutes into the final period, Phillips netting his second.
A shorthanded skate from one end of the ice to the other by Dan Carlson took Blaze to 4-3, but Scott Basiuk fired beyond Perras to send the game to overtime.
The extra session was short- lived. Calder completed a man of the match performance sliding a low shot in for his hat- trick, leaving the Steelers undeservedly empty handed.
Coach Dave Matsos said: "We got off to a slow start tonight and that was disappointing. At 3-0 some teams would have folded the tent and gone home but we didn't and that's what really pleased me.
"Perras made some good saves. We never gave up..."
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