Giants extend advantage at top

Photo: John Uwins

Belfast Giants extended their lead at the top of the Elite League table to three points with a 5-2 win in Guildford over the Flames. The Spectrum was sold out on Wednesday night for the game.

"Guildford is a tought building to play in, and we knew they'd come out hard. We got off to a good start and kept the puck in their zone which limited their offense," said David Goodwin. "We have a core group of guys that have been doing this a long time, we have some good experience with the schedule so just roll with it."

It was a high-energy start from both teams with Belfast probably shading the early chances. The league leaders hit the Flames a little against the run of play as the home side came into things, however. when Scott Conway was left in too much space to beat Eamon McAdam blocker side. Three minutes later, Ciaran Long found himself free along the boards and shot on net - the puck squirming under McAdam's pads to double the lead.

Matt Alvaro got on a rebound from his own shot to half the deficit with 3:19 remaining in the period.

The Flames had an excellent chance to level some five minutes into period two when Austin Glover put the puck on the stick of Sam Talbot, but Tom McCollum made an excellent save to keep the puck out. Guildford then killed a major penalty when former Giant Daniel Tedesco was ejected for slew-footing at 25:37, but less than two minutes after returning to full strength they saw Jordan Kawaguchi put the Giants 3-1 ahead. A quick turnover in the final minute of the period saw Gabe Bast beat McAdam to put the Giants 4-1 up heading into the break.

The Flames had a short 5-on-3 advantage at the beginning of period three, but found powerplay chances hard to come by all night. Their extra skater eventually told at 46:35 as Brett Ferguson tipped Charlie Dodero's shot past McCollum on a play after Dodero had rung a shot off the iron. Down by two heading into the final two minutes, Coach Dixon pulled McAdam for the extra skater - but with 16 seconds to go, Ben Lake found the empty net to wrap up an excellent road win for the Giants.

"It's all about consistency and good routines, and that starts in practice," continued Goodwin. "We have a good leadership group, and we trust that if we're putting in the work in practice it'll transfer into the games.

"I love Belfast so much, it feels fantastic to be back. I have so much respect for Robert Fitzpatrick and Adam Keefe and I'm so glad to be here."