Stars earn huge road win in Belfast
Photo: William Cherry
Belfast Giants' final home game before the Challenge Cup Final saw them beaten 3-2 by Dundee Stars in front of a 7,012-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.
"It was amazing!" began Stars' Spencer Naas. "The whole team contributed tonight, and Belfast really pushed hard, especially in the last 40 minutes. Jarrett Fiske played amazing, and all the guys bought in.
"It was a really gutsy performance. We spent the day on the ferry, it was a long travel day and we were short-benched, but we still found a way to get it done."
Dundee started the better of the two teams, and they quickly opened the scoring. The goal came on powerplay, with the Giants being called for too many men on the ice: Nass was picked out in the right circle from behind the net by Philippe Sanche and fired into the top corner past Jackson Whistle at 6:08.
The Stars doubled their lead just 109 seconds later, with Naas getting his second goal. The Giants had a shot blocked and the rebound fell to Naas, who skated away and only had Whistle to beat, which he did, with a clinical finish into the roof of the net at 7:57.
Dundee put a third past a shell-shocked Giants team at 12:23. Kyle Pouncy was found in the right circle and finished through Whistle's five hole.
The Giants managed to pull one back before the end of the period on a powerplay due to Dundee having too many men on the ice. David Goodwin found Gabe Bast in the right circle, who finished well past Fiske at 17:42.
Belfast pulled another back in period two and it was Bast again at 27:44 who brought them back to within one.
"There isn't really time for nerves in that situation. You're in the heat of the game and things are happening fast so we were just trying to lock in and do the best we can with what we've got," explained Naas after the Giants pulled it back to 2-3. "We had a huge four-minute penalty kill, which was crucial in the third period. We knew they were a dangerous team but I don't think there was time for nerves in that situation."
A double-minor on Alex Robert for a high stick led to the Giants enjoying four minutes of a powerplay early in period three, but to no avail.
With 5:36 to play, Pierre-Olivier Morin hit the crossbar of Jarrett Fiske’s net in what was one of the closest the Giants came to level. Whistle was pulled with 1:47 to play, but the Giants couldn’t tie the game and slipped to their third straight defeat.
"We're hoping to get a couple of guys back at some point. We got a huge win in Manchester and then came in here and got another huge win, so we're just going to keep trying to ride this momentum and see if we can carry it into the rest of the season" concluded Naas.
