Plenty Of Stars On Show in Giants Rout

First Period

The Giants wasted no time in opening the scoring as Scott Conway reacted quickest after just 31 seconds to finish on the rebound after Mike Lee’s shot was saved. (1-0). The bombardment on Emile Kruse’s net did not stop there either as Gabe Bast had a shot that whistled wide before Lee made no mistake with a rasper of his own from the right hash marks that flew past Kruse to double the home lead with just over seven minutes gone. (2-0)

The Giants had their tails up and the Stars were struggling to live with them in the first period with Jake Kupsky remaining largely untroubled. Jake Gaudet almost tipped home a Reid Irwin shot at the other end while Kruse denied Conway a second. However, Jordan Kawaguchi was waiting to finish when the Dundee net-minder parried a shot from Ben Lake to open up a healthy home lead at the first intermission. (3-0)

Second Period

Kupsky was tested early in the second by Bradley Schoonbaert but he made the save. The Giants then went up the other end and tested Kruse through Conway and Ciaran Long before Otto Nieminen tipped a shot that was held by Kupsky.

Ryan Smith spurned a gilt-edged chance to add a fourth before JJ Piccinich was sat down for an interference penalty which the hosts killed. Just over 20 seconds after returning to full strength, Belfast struck a fourth. That came the way of Carsen Twarynski who rifled a shot home having been teed up by Long (4-0).

There was still time in the second period for another penalty kill for the Giants as Conway was penalised for hooking. Benjamin Almquist had a good opportunity on the powerplay but, ultimately, it was another successful kill for the hosts.

Third Period

Much of the play in the third period was heading towards the visitors’ net again as Josh Roach had a shot tipped just wide. The Giants were then awarded a penalty shot which Piccinich was entrusted with but he was denied by Kruse before the New Jersey-born Giants forward had a shot well stopped.

Kameron Kielly and Johnny Curran then tried their luck at the other end with the latter forcing a smart double save from Kupsky before the hosts tacked on to their already-commanding lead. First, Karl Boudrias finished neatly on the backhand after Gaudet was denied (5-0) before Twarynski tipped home a Garrett McFadden shot for his second and his team’s sixth (6-0)

There was still time for another brace as Conway book-ended the game with goals having been set up by Twarynski from behind the net (7-0) as Adam Keefe’s men returned to home ice for the first time in over a fortnight in style. It was a memorable night too for Kupsky in goal as the Wisconsin-born goalie earned his first shutout as a Belfast Giant on a memorable Sunday evening at The SSE Arena.

Up Next

The Giants are back on home ice on Friday 27 February as they welcome the Sheffield Steelers. Tickets for that are selling fast, but a limited number can still be purchased here.