Posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
5317 people turned out to see the new look Coors Belfast Giants take on the Cardiff Devils on Saturday Night in the first game of their Elite League campaign. With twelve new faces in the Giants line-up the fans were excited to see their new heroes in action. They were not disappointed as the Giants new trio of Andrew Martin, Bobby Robins and Paul Deniset carried the Giants to a 5-3 win over the Cardiff Devils.
Andrew Martin opened the scoring with a short handed goal at 11:42 of the first period but it was the Devils that went into the break with the lead. With only a minute remaining in the first period Mike Prpich leveled the scoring before the Cardiff marksman Jason Silverthorn gave the Devils the lead going into the first intermission.
After facing 13 shots in the first period Devils netminder Peter Aubry was beaten at 16.39 of the second period as Andrew Martin tallied his and the Giants second of the evening to level the score with the assists going to line mates Bobby Robins and Paul Deniset.
At 21.34 of the second period, Martin completed his Odyssey debut hat-trick by beating Aubry with the Giants powerplay capitalizing on the man advantage.
The Devils fought back again to tie the game at 43:16 but two goals from newcomer Bobby Robins within one minute with only 8 minutes to play sent the Odyssey faithful into a frenzy. Stevie Lyle made 18 saves for his first victory of the new season, Martin finished with 3 goals and 1 assist, while linemates Robins with 2 goals and 2 assists and Deniset with 3 assists, rounded out a perfect start to their Giant careers.
Period Scores: 1-2, 1-0, 3-1
Penalty Mins: 10-20
Powerplay: Bel 1/10 – Car 0/5
Shots On: Stevie Lyle 18 – Peter Aubry 36
Referee: Michael Hicks
© 2008 Belfast Giants Limited, unless otherwise stated. Imagery © Michael Cooper Photography.
