Shutout win helps Giants close gap on Top 3
Photo: William Cherry
Belfast Giants started Week 12 with a Friday night win over Guildford Flames in front of a 6,248-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.
Tom McCollum logged his third shutout in five games in the Giants net. "I don't think it's something I'll ever get tired of! I've said before that it's really just a testament about how well the guys in front of me are playing," said the Giants goalie.
"There were a lot of blocks tonight. The guys did a great job. I know the guys took a few that really hurt, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. It's great to see our team really finding a way and playing a complete 60 minutes."
In a clash of two teams in the league's top five, it was the Giants who grabbed the opener through Bobo Carpenter. Elijah Barriga was found by Scott Conway. Barriga got his shot off and was well saved by Eamon McAdam. However, he could only bat the puck into the slot, and Carpenter was there to tuck away the rebound and 10:52.
Tom McCollum was forced into action on a couple of occasions to keep the home side ahead.
Both teams pushed for a goal in the middle period, but neither could find one. Guildford couldn't capitalise on back-to-back powerplays as the Giants' special teams stood strong to ensure that they went into the final period with the lead.
7:08 into the third, Daniel Catenacci was called for a Spearing major and ejected from the game after video review. On the resulting powerplay Scott Conway scooped home a rebound from Pierre-Olivier Morin's shot to give the hosts a two-goal lead. The Flames played the final two minutes of the game with six skaters but to no avail and were beaten by the Giants for the second time this season.
"Obviously building the points in the standings is huge for us and I think continuing to build game after game of playing the right way for a full 60 minutes is just going to keep giving us more and more confidence and make it easier for our team to find that flow and keep getting better every night" added McCollum.
