Giants too strong for Flames

Photo: John Uwins

Belfast Giants made it a winning start to their league campaign in 2023/24 with a four-goal victory in Guildford over the Flames, largely down to their scoring in the opening 20 minutes.

However Giants Head Coach Adam Keefe had drawn up his ideal first period, it probably wouldn't have been too far from what his players managed to get done on the ice. Ben Lake's shot from the slot got past Eamon McAdam into the top corner to put the Giants ahead at 3:52, and while the visitors killed a penalty Ara Nazarian's shot snuck past McAdam to double that lead at 5:57 - both the Flames goalie might have wanted back. The hosts had a good powerplay chance to get back into things but went for the extra pass and saw the puck skip over Ryan Tait's stick. That came back to bite the hosts who were three down to Quinn Preston's high finish at 13:39 to give the Giants a sizeable lead after the opening 20 minutes.

The Giants were the more dangerous team in period two, although the the pace of the game noticeably dropped over the next 20 minutes. The visitors threw 12 shots on McAdam's net and eventually saw one get through as Jeff Baum fired into the net from the slot at 37:38. Guildford responded 25 seconds later when Lewis Hook found Kyle Lock free in the slot for a wrist-shot finish.

Jordan Klimek and Ciaran Long dropped the gloves after an incident in the slow in a final period that didn't have much to write home about - the Giants had a fifth washed out for a kicking motion, but did end up putting five on the board when the puck trickled to Baum at the far post with an empty net to aim at.