Giants Make It 5 Straight With 5-2 Win Over Stingrays

Posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 1:13 am

The LBM Belfast Giants made it five straight wins but for the Hull Stingrays it was their sixth straight loss. Tonights comfortable 5-2 win puts the Giants level on points with league leaders the Coventry Blaze.

The visitors made a decent fight of this one until early in the second period when Konstantin Kalmikov tied it at 1-1 but Giants then moved clear with four straight goals to claim the points.

Tim Cook scored a brace for Giants with the other counters coming from Colin Shields, Evan Cheverie and Jeff Szwez, while young Scot Lee Mitchell added a consolation late on for Stingrays.

Giants took some time to break down some stubborn visiting defence but did so on the powerplay when current EIHL scoring leader Shields (20th goal of the season) fired home from close in at 17.21.

Kalmikov (14th) shocked the home fans when levelling at 22.14 but Giants were soon back in front with Cook (4th) counting at 25.33. Cheverie (9th) added a third for the home side at 30.05 as they led 3-1 at the end of the second period.

While on the powerplay and a delayed penalty, Cook (5th) scored his second at 46.38 and Giants went nap at 51.19 as Szwez (13th) netted. Mitchell (4th) pulled one back at 57.55 but that was only a consolation for a by now well beaten side.

Period Scores: 1-0, 2-1, 2-1
Penalty Mins: Bel 10 – Hul 8
Powerplay: Bel 2/4 – Hul 0/5
Shots On: Stephen Murphy 29 – Tommy Sandahl 36
Referee: Dean Smith