Devils Down Giants on Saturday Night

First Period

The visitors could not have wished for a better start when, after just 85 seconds, Ryan Barrow forced the puck home after Brett Ferguson got it in front of the net (0-1). This stung the hosts into life, and they had a chance soon after for Jordan Kawaguchi that was saved, while Karl Boudrias’ shot couldn’t find its way through a crowd in front of the net.

Efforts from Brett Perlini and Josh MacDonald kept Jake Kupsky in the home goal honest before an extended period of Giants pressure followed. Reid Irwin had a couple of bites at the cherry while Brandon Whistle couldn’t quite mop up a Ben Bowns save from Mike Lee’s effort.

The pressure kept coming as Gabe Bast’s shot from the blue line was blocked in front, while the visitors almost caught Adan Keefe’s men out against the run of play when Gleason Fournier rattled the post. However, all of that pressure for the Giants finally told with exactly a minute remaining in a feisty first period. Lee’s shot was blocked away, but the puck fell for Scott Conway, who swept home to send us into the first intermission all square. (1-1)

Second Period

The second period started out as quite a cagey affair, with the first moment of note a penalty served by Fournier for the Devils. During this time, a couple of Giants d-men tried their luck with Lee forcing a save from Bowns and Bast’s shot tipped wide.

After returning to full strength, Cardiff had an effort zip wide off Cedric Lacroix’s stick before they went on a power play of their own soon after when Carsen Twarynski was sat down for interference. They laid siege to the home goal with efforts from MacDonald, Fournier and Kristoff Kontos, but ultimately, that penalty too was killed.

Despite getting themselves back to even footing, the Giants were soon behind again when Jimmy Oligny’s rasper of a shot was tipped into the roof of the net by Barrow for his second of the night. (1-2) Once again, the Giants responded well to falling behind and, once again, they got back on level terms with the clock ticking down. This one came via Ryan Smith, who did brilliantly to steal a puck behind the net before getting in front and finishing clinically past Bowns as this game was all square again at the second intermission. (2-2)

Third Period

The hosts went on the offensive to begin the third, with Lee having a shot parried and Brandon Whistle unable to force home the rebound from a narrow angle. However, the game continued to ebb and flow, and Cole Sanford hit the hosts on the breakaway to finish past Kupsky to re-establish a Devils lead for the third time. (2-3)

The two sides then exchanged big chances as, first, Smith passed up on a golden opportunity to level for a third time before Joey Martin’s shot was held by Kupsky. However, the next goal would not follow the pattern up until that point, as the Devils would score next in what was a real game-changing moment. Ben Lake had just been penalised for tripping when Sanford joined Barrow at the double with a finish in front of the net to open up a two-goal lead for the first time all game. (2-4)

Adam Keefe’s men pushed hard to get back into the game, with Lee having another big chance, only for his puck to bounce back off the crossbar and away. Kohen Olischefski was then sat down for a penalty of his own and, during that time, the Giants added an extra skater for a two-man advantage, but the best they could muster was a Twarynski shot that Bowns parried into the path of Whistle, who couldn’t finish.

Ultimately, the Giants were made to pay for throwing caution to the wind as the men from the Welsh capital broke away and finished into the empty net through MacDonald to seal the win. (2-5)

Up Next

These two meet again today (Sunday 8 March) at 4PM at The SSE Arena, Belfast. A limited number of tickets are available and can be purchased here.