The Stena Line Belfast Giants made it three points out of a possible four this weekend with a unique 10-8 win away to the Coventry Blaze. In a crazy Elite League game, the Giants led 4-1 at 8:56 then trailed 6-4 at 21:33 before scoring five unanswered goals on their way to the win.
Both sides met on Saturday night in Belfast with the Blaze taking the win following a shootout, though the Giants notched up four goals in the opening nine minutes thanks to Kris Beech, Jeff Mason, Brandon Benedict and Mike Radja – with a Neil Trimm Coventry goal at 4:54 sandwiched between the visitors goals. Remarkably, the game was tied at 4-4 at the end of the first period with Drew Fisher, Brett Robinson and Ashley Tait bringing the Blaze level.
Only 93 seconds into the second period and the Blaze led 6-4 following two quick goals from Ashley Tait and Cale Tanaka. With Tait sitting out a 2 minute Tripping penalty, James Desmarais scored on the powerplay – assisted by Mike Wilson and Mike Forney. Less than 2 minutes later, the Giants were back on level terms with Mike Radja scoring his second of the night, on the powerplay. Radja completed his hat-trick at 29:38 – giving the Giants a 7-6 lead at the end of the second period.
Only 63 seconds into the third period, Darryl Lloyd extended the visitors lead with a fine shorthanded effort before Mark Garside made it 9-6 43:32.
Despite the Coventry Blaze pulling two goals back through Carl Lauzon (50:54) and Mike Quesnele (52:53) – Jeff Mason ensured the Giants win with the visitors tenth goal of the night at 56:01 in the highest scoring goal in the history of the organisation.
The Giants return to action this weekend with back-to-back home games on Friday and Saturday at The SSE Arena against the Cardiff Devils. Both games against last season’s Challenge Cup Champions and current Elite League leaders face-off at 7pm.
Final Score:
Coventry Blaze 8-10 Stena Line Belfast Giants
Giants Man of the Match:
Mike Radja
Discover more from LoveBelfast
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
