21 Feb 2025, 19:00 | Regular season | SSE Arena Belfast |
Belfast Giants | 4-1 | Cardiff Devils |
Periods: Shots: | 0-1 (13-7) | 1-0 (18-12) | 3-0 (13-13) | Total: 44-32 |
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Referees: #25 Andy Dalton, #9Joe Sewell  |  Spectators: 7256 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants continued their 100% record against Cardiff Devils
this season, coming from behind at a sold-out SSE Arena for a 4-1 win.
"I
think it was a good team effort. Cardiff have a good team," began
Pierre-Olivier Morin, who scored two goals for the Giants. "They're
physical and have a good offence, and we matched that pretty well
tonight.
"We had a big crowd with full volume tonight, and we
could feel the energy from the fans. I thought we stuck to our game for
60 minutes, and we came out with the win. It's nice, but we have to be
ready for tomorrow. It's going to come quickly again, and tomorrow is
another day."
The SEE Arena, complete with a full bowl and over
7,200 fans inside, was rocking the part one of this weekend's
double-header between the two sides. It was Cardiff who took the lead
early in the period at 3:36 to silence the home crowd but delight their
healthy travelling support. It was a scrappy goal as the puck broke to
Tyler Busch just outside the right circle, and he finished past Whistle
to give Cardiff the lead with 3:36 played. That was where the scoring
ended in an opening period without a penalty called.
The Giants
started period two well and managed to grab an equaliser at 25:46
through Pierre-Olivier Morin. Bobo Carpenter carried the puck around the
net and found Morin in front who shot form in close past Mac Carruth to
tie the game. Belfast arguably should have gone ahead in the period,
the best falling to JJ Piccinich with a penalty shot which Carruth came
up big to stop. The home side also saw three powerplay opportunities go
by without success, leaving the scores level heading into period three.
"You've
got to expect those games at this time of the year with the ranking
being so tight, so we know every game matters," responded Morin when
asked if any doubts were creeping into his team after not being ahead
through 40 minutes. "Sometimes it goes in faster, but here we felt
pretty good being 1-1 here at home going into the third period."
Again
the Giants struck early in the period. Grant Mismash succeeded toi put
the puck into the slot at the second attempt as his side broke the other
way, with captain Mark Cooper the lucky recipient to crash a shot past
Carruth with 45:48 gone. A late penalty on Mismash for shooting the puck
out of bounds gave the Devild a chance to tie things up, but hitting
Whistle's post was the closest they came.
With the teams back at
five skaters each, Carruth made an excellent save with his stick to stop
Ben Lake rounding him and putting the game to bed. The Devils' goalie
was pulled with 2:06 to play, but 30 seconds later Piccinich won a foot
race for a cleared puck and slotted into the empty net from a tight
angle. Morin added his second of the night as the Devils pulled Carruth
again to make it 4-1 with 21 seconds to go.
"Tomorrow is a new
game so we've got to start strong and build as the game goes on, but
we've got to take what was positive from today and maybe make a couple
of adjustments if we need to," added Morin. "Overall, I think it's just
working harder than the other team because in the end, both teams have
talent and are physical, so we've just got to keep it simple and dig
deep."