Giants Come Up Short Against The Blaze

Posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

The LBM Belfast Giants lost a heartbreaker on Saturday Night losing by a goal to the Coventry Blaze. Blaze goaltender Peter Hirsch and all-time leading scorer Adam Calder were the stars for Coventry as Hirsch stopped 41 of 42 shots and Calder scored both goals, including a penalty shot at the 49 minute mark of the game.

This was a rough game from start to finish with the two teams nearly brawling with each other after a scoreless opening period. As the whistle went to signal the end of the first 20 minutes, the two teams clashed in front of the two benches with Derek Campbell and Jeffrey Szwez getting into each other’s faces, something they would sort out later.

Despite seven powerplay opportunities between the two teams in the opening 20 minutes, neither team could break the deadlock with both goaltenders standing tall. It took just under 2 minutes into the second period for the Giants to open the scoring when Brandon Benedict finished off a Colin Shields pass to make it 1-0 at 21:43. The two players that were doing the talking at the end of the first decided to drop the gloves and sort things out at 26:13, but neither Szwez or Campbell managed to get any punches in as they both swung and wrestled each other to the ice picking up 5 minute majors for fighting along the way.

Two questionable calls by referee Mike Hicks, first a roughing penalty to Sean McMorrow followed by a cross-checking penalty to Shane Johnson gave the Blaze nearly two minutes with a 5-3 advantage, something they took advantage of when Calder one-timed a Greg Chambers goal mouth pass to make it 1-1 at 35:41.

At 49:28 the strangest call of the night was made when Hicks awarded the Blaze with a penalty shot when Giant Evan Cheverie pushed a broken stick that was lying on the ice at the Blaze puck carrier as he took a shot. The Blaze looked as surprised as everyone else when the penalty shot was awarded, but they were happy to let their top goal scorer Adam Calder take the penalty shot on Nathan Craze. Calder made no mistakes and fired home the eventual game winner making it 2-1.

Despite some heavy pressure in the final ten minutes of the game, the Giants could not convert, squandering two powerplay opportunities in the last 8 minutes of play. The Giants were 0-7 with the man advantage while the Blaze were 1/7, which was the difference on the night.

A frustrated player/coach Steve Thornton was getting x-rays after the game on his foot after blocking a shot in the first period. Thornton finished the game in a great deal of pain but struggled to walk out of the Arena on his way to the hospital. The Giants medical team will confirm Sunday if Thornton will be able to play against the Cardiff Devils.

Period Scores: 0-0, 1-1, 0-1
Penalty Mins: Bel 41 – Cov 21
Powerplay: Bel 0/7 – Cov 1/7
Shots On: Nathan Craze 22 – Peter Hirsch 42
Referee: Michael Hicks