22 Nov 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | SSE Arena Belfast |
Belfast Giants | 2-0 | Guildford Flames |
Periods: Shots: | 1-0 (13-9) | 0-0 (9-17) | 1-0 (17-6) | Total: 39-32 |
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Referees: Dalton/Lukosevicius  |  Spectators: 6248 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants started Week 12 with a Friday night win over Guildford Flames in front of a 6,248-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.
Tom
McCollum logged his third shutout in five games in the Giants net. "I
don't think it's something I'll ever get tired of! I've said before that
it's really just a testament about how well the guys in front of me are
playing," said the Giants goalie.
"There were a lot of blocks
tonight. The guys did a great job. I know the guys took a few that
really hurt, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. It's great to
see our team really finding a way and playing a complete 60 minutes."
In
a clash of two teams in the league's top five, it was the Giants who
grabbed the opener through Bobo Carpenter. Elijah Barriga was found by
Scott Conway. Barriga got his shot off and was well saved by Eamon
McAdam. However, he could only bat the puck into the slot, and Carpenter
was there to tuck away the rebound and 10:52.
Tom McCollum was forced into action on a couple of occasions to keep the home side ahead.
Both
teams pushed for a goal in the middle period, but neither could find
one. Guildford couldn't capitalise on back-to-back powerplays as the
Giants' special teams stood strong to ensure that they went into the
final period with the lead.
7:08 into the third, Daniel Catenacci
was called for a Spearing major and ejected from the game after video
review. On the resulting powerplay Scott Conway scooped home a rebound
from Pierre-Olivier Morin's shot to give the hosts a two-goal lead. The
Flames played the final two minutes of the game with six skaters but to
no avail and were beaten by the Giants for the second time this season.
"Obviously
building the points in the standings is huge for us and I think
continuing to build game after game of playing the right way for a full
60 minutes is just going to keep giving us more and more confidence and
make it easier for our team to find that flow and keep getting better
every night" added McCollum.