Giants Blaze Past Coventry

First Period

The first chance of the night fell the way of Grant Mismash for the visitors as he was denied by the pad of Jake Kupsky before Ben Freeman forced a save at the other end from Mat Robson. Elijiah Barriga was then sent to the penalty box for high sticking, but it was a rather uneventful two minutes with Jake Gaudet’s tip into the screen the most the hosts could muster.

Many in the arena were out of their seats soon after, however, when it looked as though David Goodwin had opened the scoring only to be denied by the post. Goodwin would soon join Reid Irwin in the penalty box after Irwin was penalised for holding. The Blaze turned up the pressure with the two-man advantage but found Kupsky in inspired form, making a superb double save from Adam Robbins and Grayson Constable before the latter of the two struck the post.

The hosts did kill this double penalty but came unstuck shortly after when a loose puck was seized upon in centre ice and finished off by Alessio Luciani. (0-1) To their credit, the Giants responded well and, after Irwin tested Robson, Gaudet got the better of him as he slid home from in front after good work from Karl Boudrias (1-1).

This goal came with three minutes to go in the first period, and the scoring wasn’t finished yet. With Constable sitting down for a boarding penalty, Scott Conway fired home a shot from Mike Lee’s pass with just 37 seconds left on the clock in the first period. (2-1)

Second Period

At the beginning of the second, Gabe Bast set about adding to the advantage, but he was denied on his own shot and a rebound from a JJ Piccinich effort. However, that third goal was just around the corner, and it came off the stick of Nicolas Guay via Josh Roach’s assist (3-1)

Artem Buzoverya was sent to the penalty box for a hooking call, but a Mike Lee shot wide was the closest any Giants could come during their man advantage. Coventry took full advantage of returning to parity as Jack Hopkins finished into an empty cage from straight in front. (3-2)

Both Luciani and Conway tried to add to their goal tally with shots on goal before Carsen Twarynski was quickest to react when a Guadet shot was deflected on to the post (4-2) The visitors would not lie down and stayed right on their hosts’ coat tails as Grayson Constable hammered home a powerful one-timer off a Mismash pass. (4-3) The Giants did try to open up their lead again before the second intermission but a Guay shot fizzed wide before Brandon Whistle jinked his way through but couldn’t apply a finish.

Third Period

The Blaze came out of the traps quickly in the third in search of an equaliser, and they had a big chance when, after Constable’s shot was saved, Buzoverya slid the rebound across the crease. Shortly after this, Hopkins was sent to the penalty box for holding the stick and, as he watched on, Goodwin smashed home a stunning shot into the roof of the net (5-3)

This opened the floodgates somewhat, and Conway added his second from almost an identical spot to Godwin’s just before him off a Piccinich pass (6-3). Conway wasn’t ready to stop there, and he snaffled up a rebound off a Lee shot to seal his hat-trick. (7-3)

There was time for the home crowd to salute one of their own as Andrew Dickson made an appearance between the pipes. He made a good save from Hopkins but there was nothing he could do to deny Luciani his second from close range (7-4)

However, that did not detract from the buoyant mood in The SSE Arena as the Giants sealed a big home win.

Up Next

The Giants’ final home regular-season game is this Saturday as the Guildford Flames are in town. There are still limited tickets available for that one here.