Whistle backstops Giants into Finals Weekend

Photo: Scott Wiggins

A man of the match performance saw Jackson Whistle stop 21 of 22 shots to backstop Belfast Giants into the Playoff Finals Weekend.

Whistle prevented the Blaze’s best chance of the period with just under eight minutes to play, stopping Johnny Curran who opted to shoot himself on a 2-on-1 rush. The GB International also denied Mitch Cook from point-blank range as the Blaze looked to use a late powerplay to level the tie. Taran Kozun stopped Mark Cooper’s breakaway attempt as the Blaze lost the puck while on another powerplay inside the final 10 seconds of the period.

The Blaze did everything but sore in the middle period, underlined by an Ian McNulty one-timer stopped only by the sliding Whistle, while James Shearer came close throwing the puck on the net. Those missed chances came back to bite the hosts who saw Daniel Tedesco score in close for the Giants at 26:43 in a period where the visitors also failed to take advantage of a 3-on-1. Ara Nazarian almost increased the Giant’s lead when Shearer opted to clear up the middle rather than around the boards, but the Belfast forward shot over from close range.

Whistle thwarted the Blaze time and again in the third period to the Giants ahead by two on aggregate. With time running out for the Blaze, Kozun was pulled with 2:20 to play and then again with 48 seconds remaining, with a timeout from Danny Stewart in between. With one second left, Danny Kristo tipped an Ian McNulty shot past Whistle to break his shutput, but it was too late for the Blaze's chance of the reaching Final Four.