Devils edge Friday night thriller

The Belfast Giants fell 5-3 in a thrilling clash with the Cardiff Devils at Vindico Arena on Friday night.

First Period

The Giants had the first chance of the game as a Gleason Fournier poke check prevented Scott Conway from sliding into an empty net. However, after surviving an odd-man rush, the hosts took the lead as Brett Perlini finished nicely from Cole Sanford’s pass (1-0).

That was the beginning of an eventful period for Perlini as he then had an effort stopped from close range before being sent to the penalty box for tripping. The hosts killed this penalty before doubling their advantage when Ben Davies reacted quickest after Jackson Whistle made a superb save from Josh MacDonald (2-0).

It looked as though things would get tougher for the visitors when Jake Gaudet was sat down for tripping but Nicolas Guay had other ideas. The Quebec-born forward seized on a loose puck in centre ice before baring down on goal and finishing past Christian Stoever at the second attempt to halve the deficit heading into the first intermission (2-1)

Second Period

Whistle made a stunning save to begin the second to deny Kristoff Kontos which proved to be crucial as his brother Brandon went up the other end for his first goal in teal. He was able to steer the puck home through a crowd of bodies after his initial shot was repelled by Stoever (2-2)

Captain David Goodwin was denied from straight in front as the visitors tried to make it two in quick succession but it would soon be the home side who struck with a quick-fire double. First, Sam Duggan laid it on a plate for MacDonald who finished superbly (3-2) and while the visitors were still reeling from this, Sanford managed to squeeze a puck home from a narrow angle just six seconds later. (4-2).

Adam Keefe’s men did regain their composure and they took advantage of some Cardiff ill-discipline to reduce the deficit to one again before the end of the period. Having survived a brief spell of 5-on-3, Paul Thompson’s side could not stop Jordan Kawaguchi’s rasping drive while still a man down (4-3). His men did come close again before the buzzer sounded with Perlini ringing the crossbar and Whistle standing tall to deny a Kontos breakaway.

Third Period

The game was firmly in the balance going into the third period but this period would be a lot more tense and dominated by some fantastic goal-tending at both ends. First, Stoever tipped Reid Irwin’s shot into the side netting before Whistle made another wonderful save on the rebound from Ryan Barrow after Rhodes Mitchell-King bravely blocked Evan Mosey’s initial effort.

After Gaudet was denied, the Giants goalie was at it again to stop both Tyson Helgesen and Brandon Estes. With the deficit still at one heading into the last couple of minutes, Whistle was sacrificed for the extra skater but the high-risk, high-reward situation went the way of the hosts. It was Sanford who got his second and his side’s fifth to seal the victory. (5-3).

Up Next

After their three-game road trip, your Belfast Giants are back on home ice on Sunday. They host the Dundee Stars in the final game of the Challenge Cup group stage and is a 5pm start. You can grab tickets here to welcome the team back to Belfast!