Posted on Saturday, September 12th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
LBM Giants 2 - Steelers 3 (After Shooutout)
The LBM Belfast Giants travel to Sheffield Arena tomorrow morning for the second game of the home and away series against the Steelers with one thing on their mind, retribution. The Belfast side were dealt a bitter blow, losing their home opener to the Steelers in the shootout, with Jeff Legue netting the winning goal.
For the second game in a row Steve Thornton opted to start back-up Nathan Craze stating that he was wrong to rush Stephen Murphy between the pipes against Nottingham the previous week. Former Basingstoke Bison backstop Kevin Rieter filled the gap between the posts for Sheffield.
The first period saw both sides taking a cautious start with defence being the name of the game. This soon changed as player after player felt the wrath of Tom Darnell’s referee’s whistle.
First to take a seat in the newly named ‘Downeys of Newtownards’ penalty box was George Awada as he was called for boarding at 2.28. With penalties being handed out left right and centre Evan Cheverie, Craig Peacock and Brad Cruickshank all found themselves taking the walk of shame however neither side could capitalise with the extra man. That was until George Awada took his second penalty of the night, this time for holding.
With the Steelers setting up well in the offensive zone, Jeff Legue and Kevin Bolibruk played pitch and catch going from point to point looking for the perfect shot. When that shot finally came off Bolibruk’s stick, Nathan Craze was more than equal to it stopping the initial play only to be beat as Joey Talbot swiped the puck out of mid air to give the visitors the lead at 15.02.
Flying French-Canadian Pierre-Luc Faubert continued to impress in a Giants uniform as he drew the Giants back level with 21 seconds remaining in the first period. Michael Jacobsen’s graft along the boards paid off well as he broke free and found Faubert all alone in the slot. Faubert kept his cool and slotted the puck across the net into the far left of the Steelers goal.
The second period saw the Giants take control in the possession but not on the scoreboard, As Darnell once again insured that there was a revolving door in the away team’s penalty box, the Giants were unable to capitalise on 4 powerplays, including a 76 second 5 on 3 advantage.
Unfortunately as the third period kicked off the Giants found themselves in penalty trouble once again as a bench penalty for too many men allowed Scott Basiuk to give the Steelers the leg-up on the powerplay.
Tim Cook responded swiftly as he led the rush up the ice, disributing the puck to George Awada as he crossed into the neutral zone. Awada, who returns as team captain for the 5th straight season, found his predecessor Shane Johnson at the hash marks, who in return sent a hard shot low off Kevin Rieter’s pads. Unable to control the rebound Rieter sprawled across his crease as the puck fell to the man who had initialised the play, Tim Cook, giving him an easy tap in to tie the game at 48.14.
Despite chances at both ends this would see the end of scoring for regulation time. A 3-1 shot count in Steelers favour in overtime including a spell on the powerplay still wasn’t enough to break the tie as the game headed into the shootout, Legue’s opening strike eventually becoming the winner as Colin Shields, Evan Cheverie and Pierre-Luc Faubert all failed to convert.
Period Scores: 1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1 (0-1)
Penalty Mins: Bel 18 – She 20
Powerplay: Bel 0/9 – She 1/8
Shots On: Nathan Craze 22 – Kevin Reiter 30
Referee: Tom Darnell
© 2008 Belfast Giants Limited, unless otherwise stated. Imagery © Michael Cooper Photography.
