Whistle Shows Steel to Secure Win in Sheffield

The Great Britain international turned away 29 shots and was only beaten by two powerplay goals as Matt McLeod’s double along with further strikes from Ara Nazarian, Ciaran Long and Daniel Tedesco secured the two points for Adam Keefe’s men.

First period

An early hooking call against Mitchell Balmas saw the Giants go on the powerplay first but they couldn’t beat Matthew Greenfield, despite a good shot from Josh Roach, while at the other end Mikko Juusola nearly connected with Daniel Ciampini but the forward was unable to tip in the Finn’s pass.

Sheffield’s first powerplay of the game nearly resulted in the first goal of the game, Oliver Cooper penalised for boarding and Whistle making two exceptional stops, one to deny Scott Allen in close and then an even better one to deny Kevin Tansey’s rebound.

Whistle had to make another three big saves to deny Robert Dowd, Mark Simpson and Marc-Olivier Vallerand - the latter on the powerplay as Will Cullen headed off for tripping - and he was rewarded when Nazarian gave the Giants the lead at 17:09 as Cullen’s initial shot was batted back into the slot and the winger was there to tap-in the rebound. (0-1)

Second period

The Giants started the period by killing off the remainder of Cullen’s penalty and McLeod took advantage of returning to full strength as the puck broke to Cooper down the boards and he fizzed the pass across for the winger to tap in at 23:47 (0-2) and Whistle shut the door at the other end with a nice diving pad stop on Juusola at the back post.

And the lead would become three at 26:18 as an odd-man rush saw Long’s shot from the left face-off dot squeezed through the pads of Greenfield (0-3), but the Steelers responded immediately as a Tedesco high-sticking call off the face-off gave them the powerplay and Vallerand fired home from a tight angle at 27:37. (1-3)

Belfast continued to have their chances, Cullen driving in from the right and shooting on the backhand that was saved by Greenfield, while Ben Lake’s effort rang the post and rebounded away, but the Steelers continued to flex their muscles as Balmas and Dowd both had opportunities denied by Whistle.

But after seeing a high sticking call against Juusola overturned earlier in the period, the Giants would convert their fourth on the powerplay late in the frame as Tansey was boxed for boarding and Tedesco was able to add on nine seconds into the man advantage at 39:24 as his pass to the crease deflected off a Steelers skate and in. (1-4)

Third period

Both sides had breakaway chances in a breathless start to the final period, which didn’t have a whistle until the 7:21 mark, the Giants going one way but Lake’s pass was blocked, while the Steelers had a lengthy spell of possession in the Giants zone but Dominic Cormier’s effort was well stopped by Whistle.

Sato had another opportunity as he drove in from the left that was well padded away by Greenfield, while Whistle made another outstanding stop to deny Dowd out front after he was found by Vallerand, but Nazarian could have called game when he went on the odd-man rush with Blake Speers but couldn’t put the shot on goal.

Sheffield did make it a two-goal game at 52:08 with their second powerplay goal, Bobby MacIntyre penalised for holding and Colton Saucerman ripping in a shot from the point (2-4) but, despite the home side ramping up the pressure and pulling Greenfield for the extra skater, the Giants would hold firm and would ice it with McLeod’s second, the winger blocking a shot and racing away to slide the puck into the empty net with 32 seconds remaining. (2-5)

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants complete their double-header with the Elite League-leading Sheffield Steelers on Sunday 10 March before returning to The SSE Arena, Belfast a week later for another double-header with the Guildford Flames on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 March. Tickets are available here.