Giants Burned by Flames

First Period

The Giants started well with Jordan Kawaguchi having a toe drag shot saved by Justin Fazio before Ben Lake unleashed a shot straight off the draw that the Flames goalie did well to react to. It was Carsen Twarynski’s turn to get a shot on goal before the visitors tested their former keeper, Jake Kupsky. That was a relatively routine stop off Jamal Watson’s dump on net.

The hosts continued to press with Kawaguchi and Jake Gaudet getting pucks on net before Guildford caught them out against the run of play. Tyler Preziuso seized on a loose puck and fed Jack Jacome. In turn, he played the puck across the face for Tyler Busch to finish (0-1). The best chance for Belfast to level before the break came when Reid Irwin’s shot was blocked in front of the net, but JJ Piccinich couldn’t scramble the puck home.

Second Period

At the beginning of the second, Mike Lee and Marcus Tesink exchanged chances before the hosts got back on level terms after a nice solo effort from Reid Irwin, who jinked past a couple of Flames defenders before sliding past Fazio. (1-1)

After this goal, both penalty box doors were getting plenty of action on both sides as, first, Brandon Whistle was sat down for hooking. While he was looking on, Busch came close, but the Giants rode that one out before Flames captain Watson was sent to the box for the same offence. The hosts put the pressure on during this time, with Piccinich and Scott Conway coming close, although Kupsky had to be alert to prevent Jack Jacome with a short-handed breakaway.

The penalty box would bite the Giants late in the period as, with Kell Beattie penalised for tripping, Josh Waller hammered home a pass from Jacome (1-2), before David Goodwin could only watch on as Busch got his second of the night as he diverted Waller’s shot into the net from in front of Kupsky (1-3)

Third Period

The visitors extended their lead exactly a minute after the restart, thanks to Josh Nixon (1-4), before Gabe Bast rattled a post as the hosts tried to respond immediately. They did get a goal back thanks to Goodwin, who finished well after good work behind the net from Piccinich (2-4).

However, any hope was short-lived as Waller cancelled that effort out just over a minute later when he was teed up by Nixon (2-5). The hosts tried to get back into the game with efforts from Bo Hanson and Jake Gaudet while Piccinich kept digging right to the end. However, with Kupsky sacrificed for an extra skater, the away team took advantage with Waller completing his hat-trick and rounding off a resounding road win (2-6)

Up Next

The Giants’ final regular season game is today (Sunday) in Coventry with a 5:30pm face off before the final game on home ice next Saturday.