Kawaguchi hat trick puts Giants 10 points clear

Photo: William Cherry

A Jordan Kawaguchi hat trick helped Belfast Giants cruise to an 8-1 victory over Fife flyers on Friday night and go 10 points clear at the top of the Elite League table. 6,204 fans saw them do it at the SSE Arena.

Less than 90 seconds into the first, captain Mark Cooper gave the Giants the lead when he was set up at the far post by Jordan Kawaguchi. Fife tied the game at 3:43 with a Tyler Heidt shot that squeezed through Tom McCollum’s five-hole.

JJ Piccinich was given too much time in the offensive zone to pick his spot past Shane Owen at 9:47, while a flukey goal by Pierre-Olivier Morin made it 3-1 with just over two minutes left in an opening period where the Giants outshot their visitors 28-4.

Gabe Bast fired one through Owen's five-hole 23 seconds into period two after the Flyers failed to clear their zone, and 17 seconds later Kawaguchi had his first of the night to make it 5-1. The Giants' forward then got on the end of a well-placed Scott Conway pass to make it 6-1 with only 23:28 gone.

The game entered a lull after those quick goals, with the Giants up 6-1 after 40 minutes. Scott Conway made it seven 46 seconds into the third, while Kawaguchi buried a rebound with 4:23 left in the game to make it a hat trick for him, and eight for the Giants.