Giants Seal Saturday Shut-Out in Sheffield

First Period

The Giants were dealt an early blow when Mike Lee was sent to the penalty box after just 22 seconds for an interference penalty. During the power play, Robert Dowd had a pair of big chances with the first one saved by Jake Kupsky and the second clipping the bar and ending up on the screen.

The visitors did end up killing the penalty, but the pressure on their net continued. Stephen Harper had a shot held by Kupsky before Jake Gaudet got the first shot on the home goal, only to see it blocked. The home fans were out of their seats when Mitchell Balmas broke away at pace, but he was denied brilliantly by Kupsky.

Despite the pressure they were under, the men in white broke the deadlock thanks to Jordan Kawaguchi. The British Columbia-born forward finished off a nice move that started with a Lee pass to Guay, who dropped it into Kawaguchi’s path for the opener (0-1).

Second Period

Kevin Tansey got the puck on net early in the second before Belfast doubled their lead just over two minutes after the restart. It was Brandon Whistle who teed up Carsen Twarynski to finish from straight in front (0-2).

Patrick Watling then had a shot blocked before the Giants went on their first power play of the night when Mikko Juusola was sent to the box for tripping. However, a Kawaguchi shot that Matt Greenfield held was as close as the visitors came with the man advantage. The hosts then had a couple of chances when Harper rattled the bar while Garrett McFadden made a superb robbery with Evan Jasper bearing down on goal.

Having survived another spell of Steelers pressure, the Giants struck again. Ciaran Long stole the puck from Joona Huttula in front of the net and played in Ben Freeman for his first goal as a Giant (0-3). Balmas was denied on the breakaway again by Kupsky as the visitors went into the second intermission up by three.

Third Period

With a large deficit to cut into, the hosts came out of the traps quickly to begin the third. Kupsky made another good save to deny Brett Ritchie before Watling slid the rebound wide. Mitchell Heard and Jack Dougherty were both sent to the penalty box for overlapping penalties but Aaron Fox’s side were able to kill both of these penalties with only another Kawaguchi shot registered for the Giants.

After returning to the ice, Heard got a puck on net that was smothered before Scott Conway pick-pocketed Dominic Cormier in front of the net but he was denied by Greenfield. There was nothing the Sheffield tender could do soon after, though, when Guay finished clinically off Kawaguchi’s pass. (0-4)

David Goodwin was sent to the penalty box late in the period for slashing but Reece Kelly and Juusola’s efforts were stopped meaning that Kupsky secured a shut-out and a big win for the Giants.

Up Next

These two lock horns again tomorrow (Sunday) at 4pm before Adam Keefe’s men return to home ice next Saturday, as the Glasgow Clan are the opponents at The SSE Arena, Belfast. Tickets for that one are still available here.