22 Jan 2025, 19:30 | Regular season | Guildford Spectrum |
Guildford Flames | 2-5 | Belfast Giants |
Periods: Shots: | 1-2 ( - ) | 0-2 ( - ) | 1-1 ( - ) |
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Referees: #11 Matt Rose, #16 Adam Bloski (CAN)  |  Spectators: 1942 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants extended their lead at the top of the Elite League
table to three points with a 5-2 win in Guildford over the Flames. The
Spectrum was sold out on Wednesday night for the game.
"Guildford
is a tought building to play in, and we knew they'd come out hard. We
got off to a good start and kept the puck in their zone which limited
their offense," said David Goodwin. "We have a core group of guys that
have been doing this a long time, we have some good experience with the
schedule so just roll with it."
It was a high-energy start from
both teams with Belfast probably shading the early chances. The league
leaders hit the Flames a little against the run of play as the home side
came into things, however. when Scott Conway was left in too much space
to beat Eamon McAdam blocker side. Three minutes later, Ciaran Long
found himself free along the boards and shot on net - the puck squirming
under McAdam's pads to double the lead.
Matt Alvaro got on a rebound from his own shot to half the deficit with 3:19 remaining in the period.
The
Flames had an excellent chance to level some five minutes into period
two when Austin Glover put the puck on the stick of Sam Talbot, but Tom
McCollum made an excellent save to keep the puck out. Guildford then
killed a major penalty when former Giant Daniel Tedesco was ejected for
slew-footing at 25:37, but less than two minutes after returning to full
strength they saw Jordan Kawaguchi put the Giants 3-1 ahead. A quick
turnover in the final minute of the period saw Gabe Bast beat McAdam to
put the Giants 4-1 up heading into the break.
The Flames had a
short 5-on-3 advantage at the beginning of period three, but found
powerplay chances hard to come by all night. Their extra skater
eventually told at 46:35 as Brett Ferguson tipped Charlie Dodero's shot
past McCollum on a play after Dodero had rung a shot off the iron. Down
by two heading into the final two minutes, Coach Dixon pulled McAdam for
the extra skater - but with 16 seconds to go, Ben Lake found the empty
net to wrap up an excellent road win for the Giants.
"It's all
about consistency and good routines, and that starts in practice,"
continued Goodwin. "We have a good leadership group, and we trust that
if we're putting in the work in practice it'll transfer into the games.
"I
love Belfast so much, it feels fantastic to be back. I have so much
respect for Robert Fitzpatrick and Adam Keefe and I'm so glad to be
here."