Giants Fall to Oilers in Pre-Season Opener

New man Marcus Eriksson grabbed his first goal in teal as he claimed Player of the Game honours, with returning stars JJ Piccinich and Mike Lee also on the scoreboard, but the Oilers struck twice in the final seven minutes to claim the win in the first game of this pre-season double-header.

First period

Stavanger had the better of the early exchanges as they put some initial pressure on Jackson Whistle’s net, Mathias Trettenes setting up Lars Christian Rødne to fire wide, then Anders Tangen Henriksen drew a shoulder save from Whistle as the visitors edged closer to an opener.

But the Giants grew into the game and after Whistle robbed Cam Morrison with a sensational glove save on the breakaway, Piccinich opened the scoring at 10:59 when his crease-bound pass aimed at Jake Gaudet deflected off a Stavanger skate and skipped over the pad of the unfortunate Henrik Holm (1-0).

The hope was that might spark something for the rest of the period but chances were at a premium in the final third of the opening frame, with Gaudet’s sharp angle shot easily gloved by Holm the closest either side came to adding to their tally.

Second period

The Giants had a great chance to double their lead early in the middle frame as Nicolas Guay nearly connected with Ben Lake on an odd-man rush, but instead Stavanger pulled ahead with two goals 43 seconds apart, Cliff Watson going bar down for the first at 22:10 (1-1) and then Patrick Rørbu Elvsveen putting in his own rebound off Whistle’s pads at 22:53 (1-2).

Belfast needed Whistle to be on top form to avoid the Oilers grabbing a third shortly after, robbing Håkon Løken Pedersen’s one-timer from the right circle, before making another big stop as Morrison burst away on a loose puck from the Stavanger blue-line, with the Giants having their best chance shortly after when Patrick Grasso pinched the puck in the Oilers zone and hit the post, with Holm denying Bo Hanson on the follow-up.

Penalties to Carter Hamill (hooking) and Reid Irwin (slashing) sent the Giants onto the game’s first two penalty kills but they played out both, while in between there was time for Eriksson to hit the home side’s second crossbar of the period after cutting in from the left circle to leave the deficit at one after the second period.

Third period

Holm was the first netminder called into action in the final period as he made a sharp low stop to deny David Goodwin, who was found in front by Scott Conway, and it was the home side who were making most of the inroads up the ice but were unable to find the breakthrough to tie it.

But eventually the weight of chances finally paid off as Lee delivered the equaliser at 51:33, rifling shortside on Holm from the left circle through traffic (2-2), and they were then ahead at 53:04 as Eriksson produced the finish of the night as he drove in down the left and somehow squeezed the puck over Holm’s shoulder (3-2).

The game belonged to Stavanger, however, and it actually took just 14 seconds for Watson to tie it up with his second goal of the game, slamming a one-timer in from the blue-line at 53:17 (3-3) and then Pedersen won it at 58:32 when his shot from the high slot crept through the pads of Whistle and in (3-4).

Overtime

Even though Stavanger won the game in regulation, the two teams agreed to play an overtime period and it was one that belonged to the Giants and they could have won it three times over, Conway hitting the post from the angle, Ryan Smith and Lake unable to finish off a two-on-oh chance and then Hanson denied in close by Holm to leave the overtime period scoreless.

Shootout

But the Giants would claim one of the wins on the night as they were triumphant in the shoot-out, Lake, Eriksson and Conway all beating Holm in the one-on-ones as Whistle turned away three of the four shots he faced to take the victory.

Next up

The Belfast Giants complete their pre-season double-header with the Stavanger Oilers on Saturday 23 August before preparing for two massive Champions Hockey League games on home ice against Finnish opposition, with KalPa coming to The SSE Arena, Belfast on Thursday 28 August, followed by Ilves Tampere coming to Belfast on Saturday 30 August. Tickets for upcoming home games are available here.