09 Feb 2025, 16:00 | Regular season | SSE Arena Belfast |
Belfast Giants | 3-1 | Manchester Storm |
Periods: Shots: | 2-0 (18-4) | 1-0 (12-15) | 0-1 (6-12) | Total: 36-31 |
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Referees: #25 Andy Dalton, Matthews  |  Spectators: 5348 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants made sure they stayed at least seven points clear at
the top of the Elite League table with a 3-1 win over Manchester Storm,
completing a four-point weekend.
"It's huge," said Bo Hanson on
the team's four-point weekend. "Every point in this league matters,
every game matters, and we want to win every single game that we can. It
was good this weekend. We battled hard against Guildford, and tonight,
we played they way we could for the majority of the game.
The
Giants started strongly and grabbed the opener at 6:24. Ben Lake did
well to find Jordan Kawaguchi, who flicked the puck past David Tendeck
to open the scoring.
Six minutes later, the Giants' lead was
doubled through Bo Hanson. He carried the puck into the offensive zone
and unleashed a shot which squeezed under the glove of Tendeck to give
the Giants a two goal cushion at 13:06. Neither team could capitalise on
a powerplay thereafter, meaning the period finished with the Giants two
goals ahead.
Belfast grabbed a third at 23:18 through Scott
Conway. Karl Boudrais drove into the offensive zone and picked out
Conway in the left circle. Conway did the rest, unleashing a rocket past
Tendeck.
"We didn't like the way we played in the first two
periods against Guildford. We loved the way we played in the third, and
we want to keep building," added Hanson. "We want to have championship
standards, and that third period and the majority of tonight was what we
want to see out of us."
The Storm forced Whistle into some
excellent saves and had the chance to get on the board at the end of the
period. They called a timeout when they went on a 5-on-3 powerplay.
However, they couldn't take advantage with the Giants remaining three
ahead, with Whistle a very big reason why they didn't.
Gianluca
Estevez did get Storm on the board at 7:19 after the Giants turned the
puck over while exciting the zone. Some five minutes later, it looked as
if the visitors had got a second but Estevez's goal was called back
after video review as he'd thrown a floating puck into the net.
Although Storm tried, they couldn't beat Whistle again and the Giants took a two-goal win.