LBM Belfast Giants off the Mark after 3-2 Victory…

Posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

Hull Stingrays 2 - Belfast Giants 3

The LBM Belfast Giants bounced back from a loss to the Nottingham Panthers on Saturday night by earning their first victory of the Elite League season after defeating the Hull Stringrays 3-2 at the Hull Arena on Sunday night. Giants head coach Steve Thornton opted to play back-up Nathan Craze ahead of starter Stephen Murphy for the Giants second game in as many nights.

Having been on the wrong side of an early lead the previous night in Nottingham the Giants turned the tables as Pierre-Luc Faubert netted his first league goal for the Giants at 2:55. Colin Sheilds & Pat Bateman turning providers as the team from Belfast took advantage of early pressure on the Stingrays d-corps. The Giants then increased their lead 6 minutes later as Brandon Benedict beat Tommy Sandhal in the Stringrays goal.

With 12 seconds remaining in the first the Hull Stingrays then reduced the deficit to just one as Hull’s leading scorer last season, Jeff Glowa, found a way past Nathan Craze.

The second period started with the Stingray’s finding themselves in penalty trouble. First Craig Mitchell made his way to the box at 21:40 for interference and was soon followed by Matt Reynolds at 24:59. Despite having the man advantage on two separate occasions the Giants were unable to break down the Hull defence.

After an event less second period both teams traded goals as Evan Cheverie converted a Shane Johnson pass to make it 3-1. Hull soon answered back when Matt Reynolds took advantage of Craig Peacock’s hooking penalty to bring the difference back down to 1, the assist’s going to former Giant Curtis Huppe and Shaun Thompson.

This was to be as close as the Stingrays would get to tying the game however as despite having another 5on4 advantage and Graeme Walton receiving a 10 minute misconduct penalty Hull were unable to find the equalizing goal giving the Giants their first win of the season.

The Giants now return home to prepare for their home opener next weekend as they face the league and playoff champions, the Sheffield Steelers, at the Odyssey Arena on Saturday.

Tickets are available from the Odyssey Arena box office and from www.ticketmaster.ie

Period Scores: 1-2, 0-0, 1-1
Penalty Mins: Hull 8 – Bel 20
Powerplay: Hull 1/5 – Bel 0/4
Shots On: Tommy Sandhal 21 – Nathan Craze 15
Referee: Marco Coenen