Giants Win Midweek Thriller in Dundee

First Period

The Giants dominated the scoring chances in the first period with Marcus Eriksson’s backhander the first one of the game. That was saved as was Ben Almquist’s at the other end shortly after. The Stars then had Bradley Schoonbaert penalised for tripping but the visitors couldn’t capitalise.

However, shortly after the Stars returned to full strength, the men from Belfast struck. Having scored his first professional goal on Boxing Day and impressed over the festive period, Carter Hamill notched his first goal on the road. He received a puck from Gabe Bast and, despite losing his balance, he was still able to rifle the puck past Emile Kruse (0-1)

Dundee’s attempt to get back into the game was thwarted when Alexis Gravel held on to a Spencer Naas effort before Carsen Twarynski forced a pad save from Kruse. The visitors also managed to kill a penalty of their own served by Reid Irwin before Jordan Kawaguchi had the last real chance of the first but he couldn’t force home from a narrow angle.

Second Period

The second period brought an onslaught of goals with the Giants making their statistical dominance count early as Bo Hanson hammered home his first goal of the season after a scramble in front of the net (0-2). The two teams traded chances through Keanu Yamamoto and Scott Conway before another Giants D-man added a third. That man was Bast who had plenty of time and space in front of the net to pick his spot after good work at the boards from David Goodwin and the Alberta native made no mistake (0-3)

It would have been very easy for the hosts to fold but, to their credit, they didn’t and they got on the board thanks to their captain Drydn Dow. (1-3) Hanson had a taste for goals and they came like busses for the Idaho-born defenceman as he hammered a puck from the blue line. It had eyes as it scythed through the bodies in front of an unsighted Kruse and into the net (1-4).

Adam Keefe’s men weren’t finished there and, after Ciaran Long had been denied in a mad net-front scramble, Ben Lake took things upon himself to slalom between the home defenders and finish well to open the lead further. (1-5). However, any thoughts that this would be a cruise until the end were banished when, with Hamill in the penalty box, Dow got his and his team’s second with a shot that made its way through without getting a touch (2-5)

That was the end of a goal-laden second period but not before Hanson had a chance for a stunning hat-trick but he flipped his shot over the bar.

Third Period

That goal was more than just a consolation for Marc Lefevbre’s side as they began to build some momentum. They reduced the deficit to two just under four minutes after the restart when Justin Bean’s shot took a couple of ricochets on the way in, eventually being credited to Morten Jurgens (3-5)

They weren’t finished yet and, after Yamamoto tested Gravel, Dow managed to squeeze the puck through the Giants’ goalies legs right at the midway point of the period (4-5) The fans in the Dundee Ice Arena were making plenty of noise as the visitors tried to settle and not let the game slip away from them. Twarynski and Eriksson spurned chances as the visitors regained a foothold before they finally put the game to bed.

After some lesser-spotted names on the scoresheet earlier in this one, it was a familiar face in top goal-scorer Jordan Kawaguchi who nabbed the sixth. It was a gift that the British Columbian was only too happy to accept when presented with the puck in front of the net by a home defender (4-6)

Any doubt whatsoever was then removed with just over three minutes left when Goodwin slid home from in front to seal a pulsating victory that both teams very much played their part in (4-7).

Up Next

The Belfast Giants return to home ice for the first time in 2026 on Saturday evening. They welcome the Nottingham Panthers to The SSE Arena, Belfast for a 7pm start and a limited number of tickets are available here.