Giants thrash Devils to stay 6 points clear at top
Photo: William Cherry
Belfast Giants made it two wins out of two over Cardiff this weekend, and five our of five against the Devils this season, with a 6-0 victory at a sold-out SSE Arena.
"I thought the guys played great," began Jackson Whistle, who posted a 32-shot shutout in the Giants' net. "I think after Sheffield, we kind of knew we laid an egg there and we knew we needed to respond this weekend to keep staying ahead of them. We know they're coming so having a four-point weekend was great and I thought the guys played really well."
The game began with a great atmosphere from both sets of fans for the second night in a row. It was an even first period, with both teams forcing good saves from Whistle and Bowns.
It was the Giants who took the lead at 16:30 through Mike Lee. He received the puck at the blue line, carried it into the left circle, and unleashed a rocket past Bowns to put the Giants a goal up heading into the break.
Period two began with early pressure from the Devils as Jackson Whistle was forced into a number of saves. However, it was the Giants who got the next goal and doubled their lead at 29:26. Scott Conway picked out David Goodwin in the right circle, who fired a one-timer past Bowns. With the next goal being crucial, it was the Giants who got it. Josh Roach shot from the right circle, which took a small deflection but enough to get past Bowns to give the Giants a comfortable cushion going into the third period. The Devils were unable to capitalise on their two powerplays as the Giants stood strong in their own end, leading by three after 40 minutes.
"We were saying that after the game on Friday that that the job was really only half done, and we needed to follow through tonight. I thought the guys did that," added Whistle. "You'll take two wins over Cardiff any day, but at the end of the day all the points add up the same and we just need to make sure we do a job here going forward."
Scott Conway one-timed David Goodwin's feed high into Bowns' net at 49:09 to pretty much kill off the game as the Giants moved four ahead. It got better for the hosts when Ben Lake batted a Cody Donaghey pass out of the air to race away on Bowns, moving him side to side and finishing shorthanded at 50:13 to make it 5-0. Mark Cooper tipped a shot from Goodwin, who had three assists on the night, past Bowns on a powerplay with 3:27 to play to wrap up a 6-0 win for the hosts.
