Posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 10:57 am
The LBM Belfast Giants put on an impressive display to defeat the Edinburgh Capitals 3-1 at the Odyssey Arena on Saturday night. The win keeps the Giants in touch at the top of the Elite League, four points behind the Coventry Blaze.
The Elite League match up began with a physical edge with Sheriff Sean McMorrow dropping the gloves with Andrew Sharp from the opening faceoff. The Giants then set their stall out early on with Edinburgh netminder, Cody Rudkowsky proving to be the difference in the opening exchanges, first saving well from Craig Peacock and again from Colin Shields after the captain linked up well with teammates Jeffrey Szwez and Pat Bateman.
Andrew Sharp clearly had not learned the lesson handed out by Sean McMorrow by dropping the gloves with Belfast’s Sheriff once again at the 11 minute mark. Rudkowsky came to the rescue once again, this time denying Pierre-Luc Faubert, who was returning to the ice from injury for his first game since playing against the Edinburgh Capitals on 28th October 2009. Cody Rudkowsky then made a impressive, sprawling save from Pat Bateman when scoring looked like the only possibility. The LBM Belfast Giants got the much needed breakthrough at 15.57 with an impressive strike from Tim Cook that came all the way from the red line.
The Giants began the second period in the same fashion as they ended the first with Colin Shields adding his name to the scoresheet with only 50 seconds played in the second period thanks to assists from Faubert and Benedict. Pat Bateman continued the physicality after taking exception to an open ice hit by dropping his gloves and earning himself a two minute roughing penalty in the process. Belfast extended their lead to 3-0 at 33.32 with a shorthanded goal that was down to a remarkable one man show by Jeffrey Szwez who held off three Edinburgh players and then buried the puck into the back of Rudkowsky’s net.
Edinburgh grabbed themselves a lifeline at 48.05 thanks to a sweet finish from Dan Welch after an assist from Jeff Hutchins. Pierre-Luc continued to be a nuisance for the Capitals when he stick handled his way through the neutral zone and into the Capitals defensive zone, only to have his shot stopped by the glove of the Edinburgh netminder. The Capitals then began to pour on the pressure, keeping the Giants camped in their own end for the remainder of the third period.
© 2008 Belfast Giants Limited, unless otherwise stated. Imagery © Michael Cooper Photography.
