Giants power past Flyers in first period

Photo: William Cherry

Belfast Giants' first period put them out of sight against Fife Flyers on Thursday evening in Viaplay Elite League action.

A Steve Owre hat trick inside 12 minutes helped the Giants off to a blistering first period start after which they were five goals ahead of Fife. Owre got the final touch on a scramble in front of Shane Owen's net with 2:22 played to open the scoring, before coverning past Owen on a breakaway after a smart pass from Tyler Soy to send him clean through at 3:11. Scott Conwya saw his shot deflect off a stick and into OWen's top corner to make it 3-0 at 7:25, before Soy found Orew in front for the hat trick goal with only 11:21 played at the SSE Arena. David Goodwin finished shorthanded off Mark Cooper's pass to make it 5-0 at 16:43.

Fife needed to respond in period two and were better, though without creating a great deal of scoring chances. The pace of the game slowed as a couple of powerplays came and went for the hosts as the visitors got more bodies in lanes. Peyton Jones denied Liam Blackburn on a 1-on-0 shortly before period two came to a close to keep Fife off the scoreboard.

Ben Lake tipped Matt Foley's shot past Owen at 43:02 to put the Giants further ahead, and then added his side's eighth at 45:05. Jones made a series of decent saves in the final period, but the standout stop was off Liam Blackburn from point-blank range to preserve his shutout. Gabe Bast finished off excellent set up play from Scott Conway with 3:51 to play for the 8-0 scoreline. Jones stopped all 21 shots that came his way.