JJ Picc of the Bunch as Hat-Trick Beats Blaze

The winger notched three goals on the evening with Scott Conway and Bo Hanson also on target and, backed by another strong outing from netminder Tom McCollum and a perfect night from both the powerplay and penalty kill, gained some revenge for last week’s loss at The SSE Arena, Belfast.

First period

An early wraparound attempt from Piccinich was denied by the stick of Mat Robson but, despite having most of the early puck possession, the Giants were struggling to create any significant offense as the Blaze did well to keep their shots to the outside, with McCollum relatively untested at the other end.

But the Giants’ dominance would finally pay off as Conway gave them the lead at 11:11, Elijiah Barriga driving the net and, although Robson made the initial save, the centre was on hand to pop in the rebound (0-1) and the visitors continued their momentum by playing out a cross-checking penalty on Ciaran Long, with Jackson Cressey just firing over the best chance for the Blaze.

Another powerplay, this time for too many men on the ice, led to the Blaze hitting the post through a shot from Jakob Stridsberg as the clock ticked down in the first period but it was on the powerplay that the Giants doubled their lead as David Clements was penalised for cross-checking and Piccinich brought the puck back in front to score on the backhand at 18:21 (0-2).

Second period

Bo Hanson lasered a shot just wide of goal for the first chance of the middle frame but Coventry had the best opportunity to strike back as a hooking penalty sent Pierre-Olivier Morin into the box but once more the Giants’ kill unit did the business to play out the infringement.

And where the Blaze couldn’t capitalise, the Giants could as Piccinich grabbed his second on the man advantage, sweeping in the rebound as Robson couldn’t hold the initial shot at 28:08 (0-3) with Morten Jürgens off for hooking, but the Blaze were quick to respond as Mike Kennedy’s shot was tipped into the top corner by Chase Gresock at 29:07 (1-3).

Belfast continued their strong night on the kill by playing out an interference call on Long and they were close to adding to their lead as Mark Cooper couldn’t beat Robson down low on a breakaway with Morin and then Piccinich just missed out on a hat-trick chance as he fired wide from the slot, but instead Jürgens made it a one-goal game as he finished off an odd-man rush with Alessio Luciani at 39:02 (2-3).

Third period

The Blaze were very close to tying the game straight off the opening face-off as McCollum did well to steer a Michael Regush chance wide as he skated in with Grayson Constable but instead Piccinich completed his hat-trick at 41:08 as he exchanged passes with Gabe Bast off a face-off and fired home from the edge of the right circle for his third (2-4).

Despite conceding, Coventry kept coming as Zach Heintz had two quick chances, one of which had the SkyDome on their feet as the goal light went on despite the puck going wide, and he was then denied by a superb save from McCollum on the powerplay - the goaltender penalised for delay of game - as the puck fell to him in the slot.

Another penalty was killed as Gabe Bast was off for tripping to complete the perfect night for the special teams and Hanson would round things off at 55:14 when his shot deflected off a Blaze stick on its way into the top corner to seal the two points in style (2-5).

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants return to home ice on Wednesday October 30 for a meeting with the Glasgow Clan in the Challenge Cup before continuing the group stage with two home games at the weekend, the Fife Flyers the visitors on Saturday November 2 and the Dundee Stars coming in on Sunday November 3. Tickets are available here.