Belfast Advance to POFW25

Giants 8-3 Stars (AGG)

After a hard-fought battle in Belfast last night that saw the Giants take a three goal advantage in the aggregate scoring, the Stars came out strong as they looked to get on the scoresheet early.

A bad change by the Stars allowed Mark Cooper to breakaway, with the Giants’ captain making no mistake as he beat the glove of Jarrett Fiske at 05:36. (2-6)

JJ Piccinich doubled the visitors lead less than 90 seconds later at 06:59, taking advantage of a defensive breakdown in the Stars’ zone and sliding the puck past Fiske to make it 2-0. (2-7)

After Fiske made an initial save on a shot from Grant Mismash, a scramble in front of the Dundee net ensued which led to Bobo Carpenter slotting the loose puck into the goal.

Originally called as no goal on the ice, a video review was initiated by the referees, who deemed it to be a good goal as Belfast took a 3-0 lead at 11:59. (2-8)

A hard hitting second period saw neither team finding the back of the net, despite numerous high danger chances on both ends of the ice. Both Jackson Whistle and Jarrett Fiske stood on their head, as the Giants remained firmly in the lead heading into the third and final period. 

Spencer Naas got the Stars on the board late in the third period, lifting the puck past Whistle at 53:51 to make it 3-1 on the night. (3-8)

It was too little too late however, as Belfast held on and denied any further Dundee any further chances to secure their place in the semi finals next weekend.