30 Dec 2024, 19:00 | Regular season | SSE Arena Belfast |
Belfast Giants | 5-2 | Dundee Stars |
Periods: Shots: | 1-0 (16-6) | 2-1 (21-11) | 2-1 (12-9) | Total: 49-26 |
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Referees: #25 Andy Dalton, #45 Vytas Lukosevicius  |  Spectators: 6627 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants moved to within two points of Cardiff Devils at the
top of the Elite League with a 5-2 win over Dundee Stars in front of a
sold-out 6,627-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.
It was an opening 20
minutes in which the Giants were unlucky to not be more than one ahead
after 20 minutes, but could easily have given up a tying goal with the
final play of the period.
The Giants had sustained pressure in the Stars zone and while
skating on a powerplay where the visitors failed to clear the puck,
Elijiah Barriga worked the puck to Gabe Bast at the point, and he fed
Scott Conway for an excellent one-timer from the circle to open the
scoring with 14:39 played. Jake Elmer could have tied the game on a
1-on-0 as the seconds ticked down on the period, but a good back-check
from Kyle Osterberg combined with a fumble on the puck saw the Stars
forward fail to get a shot away. A quick period flew by in just 25
minutes.
Belfast doubled their advantage 2:08 into the second on an
odd-man rush with a sublime wrist shot from Grant Mismash which sent
Richard Sabol's water bottle flying.
Dundee, who killed off a 5-on-3 in the period, were back in
things when a loose puck along the wall was fired past Tom McCollum by
Zach Tsekos, and the Stars forward had one of two excellent chances to
tie the game – the other falling to Cole MacDonald – only for McCollum
to come up with the stop 1-on-0. An interference call on Ben Lake with
just under seven minutes left in the period set the Stars up for another
shot at an equaliser – but Bobo Carpenter broke and scored shorthanded a
minute later with an excellent drag and shot past Sabol.
Dundee
brought the game back to a one-goal differential at 46:19 through Jake
Elmer on the powerplay as the SSE Arena became a little more nervy. The
visitors had another powerplay sone two minutes later to try and tie the
game, but couldn't beat McCollum third time. JJ Piccinich settled
nerves among the Giants with an excellent finish at 57:34 to put the
home side back two ahead with 2:26 to go, while Pierre-Olivier Morin
slotted into the empty net in the closing seconds to make it 5-2 - that
after Grant Mismash had missed the open cage twice on previous plays.