Giants Make a Flying Start to the Festive Holidays as They Defeat Fife on Penalties

First period

The Belfast Giants were the first team to be shorthanded as Oliver Cooper was penalised for tripping.

During their powerplay, Johan Eriksson’s strong one timer was saved by the pads of Tyler Beskorowany to deny Fife from taking advantage of the extra skater.

Beskorowany was called into action again shortly after, this time to stop Max Humitz’s goal-bound slapshot, with no one in a festive Flyers jersey able to get to the rebound.

Sean Norris then got a quick shot on Shane Owen, but couldn’t find the net past the former Giants netminder.

Adam Keefe’s men then headed on the power play after Vitalijs Pavlovs was called for slashing at 14:08 but were constantly kept at bay by the resolute Fife Flyers defence.

They headed back on the power kill with 3:20 left in the first period when Davy Phillips picked up two minutes for interference. However, the home side couldn’t find a way past Beskorowany, so the first period ended goalless.

Second period

Both Brady Pouteau and Greg Printz received two-minute penalties for roughing on 28:11.

The Belfast Giants thought they had opened the scoring on 31:18, but the goal was disallowed for goalkeeper interference.

However, on 32:47, they broke the deadlock shortly after Troy Lajeunesse was called for tripping. Bobby Macintyre’s strong shot from the left circle was deflected by the pads of Shane Owen into the path of Oliver Cooper, who made no mistake from close range. (0-1)

Just 19 seconds later, Fife equalised when the lightning-quick Kyle Osterberg used his speed to sear into the offensive zone and then played the puck across to Troy Lajeunesse, who sent the puck through the legs of Beskorowany. (1-1)

Daniel Tedesco tried to give the Giants the lead before the buzzer, but Shane Owen made a high save to deny his effort.

Third period

In the opening minute of the final period, Fife hit the crossbar before making it 2-1 on 42:18 when Kyle Osterberg showed some great skill before firing five-hole. (2-1)

The home side pushed for a third and two huge saves from Besko denied Troy Lajeunesse and Johan Eriksson’s shots before two well-worked back door plays were not converted.

The Giants headed back on the powerplay when Kyle Osterberg received a two-minute penalty for tripping. In that time, the Giants scored another power play goal, in similar fashion to the first, when another shot from Bobby Macintyre from the left circle flew through traffic and was steered home by Oliver Cooper at 52:40. (2-2)

The penalties kept coming as Jonas Emmerdahl was called for boarding at 55:20 before both Oliver Cooper and Greg Printz were given two-minute penalties, meaning that the Fife Flyers had 58 seconds with a two-man advantage. But once again, Beskorowany stopped the home side from capitalising on the powerplay and made sure the Giants would travel home with at least a point.

Overtime

The Fife Flyers changed their netminder for overtime, with Andrew Little making his first appearance of the league campaign and replacing the impressive Shane Owen.

The penalties kept coming as at 61:05, Jacob Friend was called for tripping with Quinn Preston receiving two minutes for interference just as the Giants returned to full strength.

The Fife Flyers had multiple chances to secure the two points, with Besko denying Kyle Osterberg’s strong effort and also saving two shots from Troy Lajeunesse.

Shootout

During the penalties Ben Lake and Kyle Osterberg both scored before Matty McLeod, Troy Lajeunesse, Jeff Baum and Lucas Chiodo efforts were saved.

Then, Bobby Macintyre and Johan Eriksson both found the back of the net to make the score 2-2 on penalties.

Outstanding Oliver Cooper beat Little with a fine shot to score his third of the night and Max Humitz’s effort was saved by Tyler Beskorowany to secure both points in the final fixture before Christmas for the Belfast Giants. (2-3)

Next Up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants face another Scottish double-header, this time against the Glasgow Clan, as they head to the Braehead Arena on Boxing Day before returning to The SSE Arena, Belfast on Thursday 28 December.

Tickets are available here.