Giants go joint-top of table

Photo: William Cherry

Belfast Giants went joint top of the Premier Sports Elite League table thanks to a comfortable 6-2 win over Guildford Flames on Friday night, marking the first time this season that Adam Keefe's side have caught up with the Sheffield Steelers.

The Giants took control of the game with two goals inside the opening 16 minutes to lead by a pair after the first period. David Goodwin opened the scoring with his 14th of the season at 7:13 when he tapped home Scott Conway's feed at the back post. Mark Garside's assist on the goal took him ahead of Todd Kelman into eighth place on the Giants' all-time points ranking. 

Lewis Hook made it 2-0 at 15:59 when he shot past Kevin Lindskoug from close range, beating the Flames' netminder at the second attempt.

Garside got his side's third of the night 1:45 into period two when he beat Lindskoug from an almost impossible angle, while Ben Lake's goal at 24:52 signalled the end of the Flames' goalie's night - Liam Hughes entered the net for his Flames debut.

Hughes kept the home side out until 71 seconds into period three when he was beaten by Slater Doggett on the powerplay. Jake Bolton hit back three minutes later with the Flames' first of the night, also on the man advantage, and then made things interesting when he pulled the score back to 5-2 with 5:04 to play. Scott Conway reestablished the Giants' four-goal cushion on 56 minutes with the game's final goal.

The two sides meet again in Belfast on Saturday night.