By Luke McGinnis
Coventry controlled play early in the opening period, generating numerous high-quality chances off the rush. However, Emil Kruse was sharp, making a number of strong saves to deny the visitors.
Craig Garrigan opened the scoring, netting his first of the regular season at 13:54. After Mat Robson made a save on Morten Jürgens, the puck fell to Garrigan, who reacted quickly and slotted it into the Blaze net.
After Kruse made an initial save on Grant Mismash, the puck fell to Adam Robbins in the crease, where he tapped it past the Stars’ netminder at 18:42.
Former Star Elijiah Barriga gave the Blaze their first lead of the night at 36:10, picking up a backdoor pass from Jere Vertanen and firing the puck past Kruse.
A holding penalty against Matt Boudens proved costly, as William Boysen made it 3-1 on the ensuing powerplay with a slapshot from the point at 38:25.
Despite Mat Robson making the initial save, the puck fell kindly to Boudens, who made no mistake and buried it at 41:02 to make it 3-2.
Barriga restored Coventry’s two-goal lead at 49:47, beating Kruse five-hole with a nifty move on a breakaway for his second goal of the night.
Grant Mismash got the puck behind the Stars’ defence, where he fed Robbins in close who scored his second of the game at 53:13 and make it 5-2.
