Giants edge past battling Stars

Photo: Derek Black

The Belfast Giants secured a 4-1 road win against a Dundee Stars side that make it extremely hard work for them despite being short bench in Sunday's live Premier Sports clash.

Dundee, who went into the game missing a handful of players and had Connor Sills suspended early on Sunday morning for a boarding incident in Saturday's game, had the first powerplay of the game when the Giants were called for having too many players on the ice. 

Adam Morrison pulled off one of many excellent saves on the night when he denied Jordan Boucher breaking shorthanded as the Giants killed the penalty off. 

Belfast took the lead 3:33 into period two as JJ Piccinich took the puck behind the goal line and cut in, throwing it on net which snuck through Morrison. Ciaran Long was left open in front of the net on a defensive zone breakdown to put home a rebound from David Goodwin's shot at 27:38 and double the lead.

Both sides ran into penalty trouble in the latter part of the middle period which allowed the Stars to pull one back thanks to Drydn Dow's shot which flew through a screen at 36:50 on the powerplay. With the momentum in the home side's favour, an ill-judged Kyle Haas saw him ejected from the game for charging, with he and Darcy Murphy also receiving major penalties for fighting.

The Stars' indiscipline only made their problems worse in the third period. The Giants were unable to convert on a couple of 5-on-3 advantages as the home side's penalty kill held firm with loud backing from their fans. 

Eventually, the pressure took it's toll ith Piccinich getting his second of the game at 53:46 to make things comfortable for the Giants, the goal coming a minute after coach Adam Keefe called a timeout to get his powerplay organised. Morrison continued to make save after save but eventually had to leave the game with cramp, replaced by Brython Preece.

Cam Knight made the two points safe for the Giants with the insurance marker with 5:30 left on the clock.

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