Giants seal un-four-gettable weekend in Sheffield

First Period

Much like the night before, the Steelers came out of the blocks quickly with Evan Jasper’s effort tipped over before Jake Kupsy held on to Dominic Cormier’s shot. Unlike game one of the double-header, the hosts made their pressure tell as Mitchell Balmas reacted quickest to a rebound off the back boards. (1-0)

The visitors reacted well to falling behind as Ben Freeman came close before Cole Shudra was sent to the penalty box for tripping, During this time, Jordan Kawaguchi tried his luck to no avail while a blocked Mike Lee shot almost fell for Jake Gaudet but Joona Huttula denied him well.

After returning to full strength, the hosts went on the offensive again through Robert Dowd and Ryan Tait with the former denied by Kupsky and the latter seeing his shot blocked. Having ridden out that wave, the Giants went in search of a leveller with Lee’s shot tipped over before Conway had a similar chance to Balmas’ goal after a rogue bounce off the boards but he was denied by Eamon McAdam in the net.

Mikko Juusola and Brett Ritchie had quick-fire efforts well stopped by Kupsky as the clock ticked down. However, the men in white and teal did not give up and were level at the first intermission thanks to Ryan Smith who finished brilliantly off Carsen Twarynski’s pass. (1-1)

Second Period

Having levelled with just 90 seconds to go in the first, the visitors took the lead inside four minutes to start the second. Freeman made good ground and, despite being felled by a trip that led to a delayed penalty, he picked out Nicolas Guay. The Quebec-born forward finished well after a neat dummy in front of him from Gabe Bast. (1-2)

The Giants continued to press and Brandon Whistle let rip with a shot only to see his stick disintegrate in his hands. He then got a puck on net but no one could finish off his cutback before Kawaguchi had a similar situation when JJ Piccinich couldn’t get his stick on a cross-face pass.

The Steelers then got a foothold in the game and had a couple of shots from Jussola and Ivan Bjorkley-Nordstrom that Kupsky stopped before Tansey and Jasper tried their luck but couldn’t get their shots in target. That meant Adam Keefe’s men went into the second intermission a goal to the good.

Third Period

The visitors almost extended their lead within ten seconds of the restart when Lee rattled the post with a delayed penalty on the way that Dowd served for hooking. During that time, the ironwork was struck again by Scott Conway this time whose shot came back off the bar.

Having survived those scares, Sheffield set about getting back on level terms but they were up against an inspired Kupsky who made a superb improvised save off Jordon Southorn’s shot and also froze shots from Cormier and Jack Dougherty.

Twarynski then made a brave block from another Cormier effort as the Giants were putting their bodies on the line. Balmas and Kawaguchi then traded efforts before, with just over two minutes remaining, McAdam was pulled from the home goal in place of the extra skater.

The visitors’ first effort into the empty net came from Bo Hanson who came agonisingly close to a goal from all the way behind his own net. However, that was merely a sighter for the men from Belfast as both Piccinich (1-3) and Smith for his second of the game (1-4) guided the puck home into the unguarded cage to put the gloss on a stunning weekend for Adam Keefe’s men.

Up Next

The big double-headers keep coming for the Giants as they return to home ice on Saturday (21^st March) to welcome the Glasgow Clan. Limited tickets remain for that one and you can purchase them here.