Giants Defeat Devils in Sellout Thriller

First Period

It was a lively start to proceedings as the Giants attacked first with chances for Ben Lake and Karl Boudrias. The Devils would find their feet soon after, as Riley Brandt first saw his shot held before he inadvertently got in the way of teammate Brett Perlini’s goal-bound effort. Ben Davies then whiffed on a good chance while Ben Bowns had to react quickly when Marcus Eriksson beautifully teed up Patrick Grasso in front.

After the visitors killed a penalty called on captain Joey Martin, they took the lead and it was an unfortunate one for the hosts to concede. Kristoff Kontos made excellent headway towards Jackson Whistle’s goal and his pass searching for Cole Sanford at the back post was turned into his own net by the back-tracking Garrett McFadden (0-1).

Adam Keefe’s men responded well with another effort from Boudrias, and one from Nicolas Guay was repelled by Bowns before Whistle made a stunning double save to twice deny Kohen Olischefski in quick succession. The period would end with the Giants killing a penalty served by McFadden.

Second Period

Adam Keefe sent his side out with renewed vigour for the second period with Bowns in the Cardiff goal being given plenty of work to do. First, Ryan Smith had an effort saved by his blocker before Guay was trying his luck along with Bo Hanson.

However, the away side were not without their chances and Olischefski will perhaps feel he should have done better when teed up by Martin but he couldn’t get the puck away with any force to test Whistle. The ice continued to tilt towards the Devils’ crease with Ben Lake and Scott Conway having good shots on goal before the equaliser finally came.

It was Mike Lee who toed the blue line before getting a shot on target, that Jake Gaudet tipped on in front of Bowns and into the net (1-1). Olischefski and Hanson then exchanged chances in a feisty second period that left the game level after forty minutes.

Third Period

The third period started very much in the balance, and Nolan Yaremko had the first real chance of the period. Whistle denied him, and his Team GB teammate in the opposite goal was also on top form to deny Patrick Grasso after Gaudet had set him up from behind the net.

With Olischefski in the penalty box, the hosts rained shots down on the Cardiff net but, just as the penalty was killed, Jordan Kawaguchi produced a wraparound finish to give Belfast their first lead of the night after good work from Mike Lee. (2-1).

Paul Thompson’s men were not about to go down without a fight and had chances to level through Perlini and Ryan Barrow. However, the stoic home rear-guard kept them at bay and, with Bowns vacating his crease for the extra skater late on, David Goodwin finished smartly into the empty cage from a narrow angle. (3-1). That goal with less than a minute on the clock remaining, was the first time either side could breathe in a high-intensity and high-quality game.

Up Next

Next up at home, the Belfast Giants return to the ice at The SSE Arena in Challenge Cup action against Dundee Stars on Sunday 9th November at 5PM. Tickets can be purchased here.