After a busy period of signings and training, the NIHL Coventry Blaze saw their first pre-season fixture against NIHL Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday 5th September at home in the Coventry Skydome with a 18:30 face-off.

Whilst the first period resulted in no goals from either teams, both had lots of energy and shot on goal attemps with a few close calls.

In the second period, we saw three goals.

23 minutes into the game saw the first goal by the Phantoms during a powerplay. Scored by #21 Jack Sansby and assisted by #73 Taylor Romeo.

At 26:41 minutes, Phantoms #13 James White had a penalty shot opportunity but Blaze's goaltender #34 Hayden Laverick held firm and saved the shot.

Then, 32 minutes in, Phantoms scored their second goal of the night. An even handed goal by #18 Frankie Yardley with assists by #13 James White and #19 Leo Markey.

We then had a 30 second timeout asked for by the Peterborough Phantoms.

33:15 minutes in, Coventry Blaze scored their first goal of the night and it was a powerplay goal! Scored by #95 Joel Gavigan with an assist from #24 Ethan Wheeldon.

In the third period, we saw three goals.

The period started with a change in goaltender from both teams.

For Blaze, #34 Hayden Laverick swapped for #30 Owen Chester.

For Phantoms, #27 Sasha Bravo swapped for #86 Carl Boyden.

The first goal was the Phantoms third goal of the night at 40:35 minutes into the game and scored by #18 Frankie Yardley, his second of the night, with an assist from #13 James White.

We then had another 30 second timeout but this was asked for by the Coventry Blaze.

50:40 minutes into the game, we saw Phantoms fourth goal which was scored during a powerplay for the visitors and unassisted by #5 Nicholas Martin.

We saw our final goal of the night at 53:50 which was another powerplay goal scored by #13 James White with an assist from #21 Jack Sansby and #18 Frankie Yardley.

After the three periods, we ended with a score of 1-5 with a win for the Peterborough Phantoms.

Mvp's for the game included Phantoms #18 Frankie Yardley and Blaze's #7 Jack McKay.

With a fall for the Blaze, it was still a good first game back and they're more than ready for their away game against Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday 6th September.