Giants start their Elite League title defence on a high

First Period

It was the visitors who came out of the traps quickest and made Jackson Whistle work. Vlastimil Dostalek rattled the crossbar before Whistle made a good blocker save from Jaka Sturm. Momentum would swing back towards the hosts as they found their feet and gave Christian Purboo some saves to make. The best of his saves came from Ryan Smith before the Fife goalie tipped a Mike Lee effort into the screen. Those saves proved to be crucial as the visitors took the lead through Jeremy Masella who kept digging when the puck came loose in front of the Giants net (0-1)

The Giants continued to press despite this setback and got their reward just after the midway mark of the period. Marcus Eriksson put one on the stick of Scott Conway who rifled home a one-timer for a leveller. (1-1)

The Flyers came close again through Keaton Jameson while JJ Piccinich rattled the post before Eriksson turned from provider to scorer on the powerplay as the period ticked to a close. In a similar vein to the Fife opener, the Swede kept the pressure on Purboo after he made a save before mopping up the rebound. (2-1)

Second Period

The visitors almost caught the Giants cold shortly after the restart thanks to Didrik Svendsen’s snapshot but Whistle was alert in the home goal. After Jake Gaudet and Ciaran Long came close, Andrew McLean was sent to the penalty box for slashing.

Despite another good chance for Lee and Nicolas Guay tipping Long’s effort close, Fife killed the penalty but would soon find themselves on the penalty kill again shortly after when Ethan Hadden sat for too many men on the ice. This time, the hosts could not be contained and Jordan Kawaguchi’s shot took a kind ricochet off a Fife body in front of the net and nestled home for the Giants’ third (3-1)

Third Period

The final period was a bitty affair with the Giants having the better of the chances. Piccinich tipped one just wide before Purboo showed great athleticism to get across his crease to thwart Eriksson. The closest the Flyers came to narrowing the gap was when Josh Winquist picked out a sprawling Ethan Somoza who slid just wide.

Despite Reid Irwin serving a penalty, Jake Gaudet came close to a short-handed goal for the hosts while Piccinich tested Purboo straight from the face off. The game wore on with Ian Scheid having the Flyers’ last real opportunity while Smith hit the bar and Bo Hanson put one just over. These missed chances didn’t harm Adam Keefe’s men as they got off to a perfect start in league action.

Up Next

The Giants head to Kirkcaldy today (Sunday) for part two of their weekend double header against the Flyers. That game is a 5pm start before the Glasgow Clan visit Belfast for a Challenge Cup clash next Saturday 25^th October. That game starts at 7pm and you can grab tickets here.