Giants Give Flyers a Nightmare Before Christmas with Eight Goal Shut Out

Giants’ goalie Peyton Jones bagged his second shutout in just three games, and third of the season as a Steve Owre hat trick, a Ben Lake double and goals from Scott Conway, David Goodwin and Gabe Bast saw Adam Keefe’s side win 8-0 in the final game before Santa’s arrival.

FIRST PERIOD

The Belfast Giants utterly laid siege to the Fife Flyers in an explosive first period. Bari McKenzie’s hooking call at 1:45 opened the door for Steve Owre to strike his first of a sub-12-minute hat trick at 2:22. (1-0)

His second was provided by Tyler Soy moments later, passing through the middle for a forehand backhand finished from Owre in the mid slot at 3:11. (2-0)

Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume called an early time out in the hope of righting the ship, but the onslaught was far from over.

Scott Conway made it 3 at 7:25, crossing the blue line for a high finish over former Giant Shane Owen in the Flyers goal. (3-0)

Owre’s hat trick was complete at 11:21, as a ferocious Giants forecheck held a beleaguered Flyers behind their own blue line. (4-0)

Giants goalie Peyton Jones’ tripping call at 15:23, served by Darik Angeli, should have been a moment of reprieve for the Flyers. Instead, Giants captain David Goodwin punched home number 5 short-handed, taking Mark Cooper’s squared pass from the left. (5-0)

SECOND PERIOD

The Fife Flyers were a much-improved unit in the middle period, finally stemming the flow of Giants goals and slowing the pace.

They also held the home side at bay through a total of six minutes on the power play as Seth Bafaro was called for tripping at 24:16, before Brayden Sherbinin took a hooking penalty at 32:50 and Chris Lawrence tripped Matt Foley in the Giants zone at 35:46.

Liam Blackburn’s breakaway for the visitors was the biggest scoring chance of the period, but Jones was a match in the Giants crease with a strong blocker save in the dying seconds.

THIRD PERIOD

A Ben Lake double within 2 minutes put the game beyond all doubt early in the third period, his first coming at 43:02 before Darik Angeli’s shot rolled across the face of goal and was pounced on at the back post from a tight angle at 45:05. (6-0, 7-0)

Although nobody would say it out loud, focused had turned to keeping Peyton Jones’ shutout intact, and the Giants special teams played their part with kills at 46:29 (Conway, roughing) and 51:56 (Hook, hooking) before Janne Kivilahti sent Belfast back onto the power play with a cross checking penalty at 53:30.

Jones himself was nothing short of stellar on a number on Flyers grade-A opportunities late on, most notably throwing himself post to post to kick a leg in front of a sure fire goal during Conway’s penalty.

Gabe Bast put the cherry on top just under 4 minutes from time, after Conway danced his way through the zone for a sublime assist at 56:09. (8-0)

UP NEXT

The Stena Line Belfast Giants return to action on Boxing Day with a trip to the Glasgow Clan, before returning home to The SSE Arena, Belfast for rematch on Tuesday 27^th December at 7:00pm. Tickets for all THREE home games during the Christmas break are on sale HERE!