Giants give Steelers second straight home defeat

Photo: Dean Woolley

Belfast Giants got their first victory of the season over Sheffield with a 5-2 in front of 7,441 fans at the Utilita Arena, inflicting the Steelers' second home defeat in a row - the first time that's happened to the league leaders this season.

Jackson Whistle pulled off some excellent saved in the opening period to keep the Steelers out. There was concern for Charlie Curti who took a puck to the face while blocking a shot, but he was able to skate to off the ice after receiving treatment. Kohei Sato got back onto the goal line to block a loose puck from going over the line, while the Steelers then worked the puck to Kevin Tansey but a diving Whistle got back in position to keep it out. Belfast scored the only goal of period one with Daniel Tedesco controlling a rebound off his skate and then shooting into an open net pass a helpless Matt Greenfield.

Things burst into life in period two as the Giants raced into a three-goal lead. 3:47 into the second, the Giants broke on a rush where Jacob Friend's saucer pass went over a diving Niklas Nevalainen to allow Matt McLeod to fire home and double the Giants' advantage. Under three minutes later, Ciaran Long's shot on a 2-on-1 snuck through Greenfield's pads to put the visitors three ahead.

Whistle made a couple of neat saves to keep the Giants ahead, but the visitors’ resistance was eventually broken when Marc-Olivier Vallerand fired home off a Colton Saucerman pass to score on the powerplay at 27:37. A late Kevin Tansey Boarding minor put the Giants on a man-advantage with 45 seconds left in the period, and they took full advantage with Daniel Tedesco’s shot deflecting past Greenfield off Nevalainen’s skate to put the visitors back three ahead at 39:26.

The hosts needed a way back into the game, and outshot their guests over 2:1 in the final period trying to find one. It eventually came through a Saucerman shot from the point 11 seconds into a MacIntyre Holding penalty to bring the Steelers back to within two. With 2:30 to go, Aaron Fox pulled Greenfield for the extra skater as he tried to find two late goals. The Giants had a series of icings as they got the puck clear, but eventually Matt McLeod settled the game with an empty-netter with 32 seconds to play.

The two sides meet again on Sunday at 4pm.