BELFAST GIANTS SNUFF OUT FLAMES FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN

The Stena Line Belfast Giants made it five wins in a row as they secured a 5-2 win over the Guildford Flames at The Spectrum Centre, five different scorers all finding the net in their Elite League clash on Wednesday night.

Goals from Scott Conway, Ciaran Long, Jordan Kawaguchi, Gabe Bast and Ben Lake secured the two points for Adam Keefe’s side as they extended their lead over the Cardiff Devils at the top of the table to three points.

First period

The Giants began the game on the back foot as Karl Boudrias was called for interference and they received a massive let-off when a loose puck fell to Brett Ferguson in the left circle and he rifled the shot wide with the net gaping as Tom McCollum was pulled out of position.

But slowly the visitors began to gain control of the contest and after Mike Lee’s pass back in front saw Gabe Bast fire wide and then Bobo Carpenter shot over on the rush, Conway opened the scoring at 12:16 when he picked the top corner straight off an offensive zone face-off (0-1).

It would be two shortly after the Giants killed off another penalty, Mack Stewart penalised for tripping, as Long squeezed the puck past Eamon McAdam from the tightest of angles on the backhand at 15:04 (0-2), but the Flames would end the period on a high as Matt Alvaro got them back into it, pocketing the rebound from Jack Jacome’s initial shot at 16:41 (1-2).

Second period

The second period began with the Giants pressing to try and restore their two-goal lead as Grant Mismash was denied in close by McAdam before McCollum produced a wonderful stop to deny Samuel Talbot what appeared to be a certain goal as he was found by a cross-net pass from James Shearer.

But the Giants were helped by a five-minute major penalty on Daniel Tedesco, who was penalised for slew-footing, and, although they were unable to capitalise on the powerplay, the momentum enabled Kawaguchi to grab their third at 32:22 as he danced into the slot and ripped his shot into the top corner (1-3).

It looked like that was all the scoring for the middle frame, especially when McAdam made an excellent save to deny Ben Lake on a 3-on-1 break, but with 36.9 seconds to the second intermission Bast would add a fourth as he was found trail skating into the zone by Mark Cooper and he emphatically hit the top corner (1-4).

Third period

The Giants’ penalty kill was rolled out several times early in the third period as penalties on Conway (interference) and McCollum (delay of game) went unpunished, but a kneeing call against Lake would see Guildford get their second goal as Charlie Dodero’s long-range shot was tipped in by Ferguson at 46:35 (2-4).

Kawaguchi was unfortunate not to respond immediately when he was found in front by Carpenter but the winger’s shot was stopped inches from the line by the pads of McAdam, while McCollum had to make two excellent saves to deny Tait as he was found by Jacome and then Austin Glover wrapped round but the backhand was denied.

A roughing call against Kawaguchi went unpunished by the Flames and the Giants were able to close out the game in relative comfort as Shearer sat for tripping and, despite a goaltender interference call on Pierre-Olivier Morin, Lake was able to close out the game with the empty netter with 15.9 seconds remaining to seal the deal (2-5).

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants return to home ice to take on the Coventry Blaze on Saturday 25 January 25, followed by a visit to the Cardiff Devils on Sunday 26 January. You can get tickets here.