Fantastic First Enough for Giants to Put Out Flames

First Period

The Giants came out of the blocks quickly and immediately had Justin Fazio under pressure. Mike Lee had a shot tipped before the Flames goalie did well to deny Scott Conway on the breakaway. However, this was merely foreboding as, with Charlie Curti in the box for slashing, Marcus Eriksson tipped Conway’s shot home for the opener on the powerplay. (1-0)

Just 24 seconds later, the net behind Fazio was bulging again as Ciaran Long put the finishing touches on a lovely team move for his first goal of the season (2-0). The Flames looked somewhat shell-shocked after this quick-fire double and struggled to get a foothold.

Patrick Grasso had a couple of chances repelled before Guildford forced a save from Jackson Whistle. It was Cole Ully who had a quick-fire pair of opportunities that could not test the Giants net minder as the lead held at two at the break.

Second Period

Karl Boudrias had the first chance of the second as he slalomed through the Flames defence only to be denied by Fazio. Jake Gaudet had a gilt-edged chance that he scooped over before Whistle made a stunning save to deny Flames captain Matt Alvaro from straight in front.

Both sides killed penalties served by Josh Nixon and Gabe Bast respectively without too much fuss. The best chances as the period wore on were quick-fire doubles at either end with Ethan Strang and Josh Waller missing the target for the visitors before Ryan Smith forced Fazio into a nice double save.

Third Period

Two Belfast D-men had the first two chances of the third as Bo Hanson and Reid Irwin both tested Fazio. He was equal to them as was Whistle to Mathieu Gosselin from close range with Gaudet in the bin for interference.

The hosts ultimately killed that penalty but not before they had a couple of short-handed chances from Grasso and Nicolas Guay. The Flames were piling on the pressure as the final period wore on but Whistle was keeping them at bay with some superb stops. In particular, he made saves from Nick Seitz and from former Giants Curti and Travis Brown. Ultimately, he held on for his fourth shutout of the season as Adam Keefe’s men won part one of this weekend double-header.

Up Next

These two will do it again tonight at 7pm. Tickets are still available and you can get them here.