Seven Up for the Giants in Kirkcaldy

Pierre-Olivier Morin was the only man to score twice as the Giants romped to victory, Mike Lee, Grant Mismash, J.J. Piccinich, Ciaran Long and Jordan Kawaguchi also on the board behind a 21-save shut-out from netminder Jackson Whistle, his second in three games, as the Giants took a firm grip on top spot in Group B.

First period

A fast start to the game from both sides saw the Giants pull ahead just 5:34 into the game as Lee danced around his man from the blue line produced a beautiful low finish on Shane Owen from the right circle (0-1), while at the other end Whistle had to make a big save to deny Michael Cichy in close to preserve the advantage.

The Giants netminder was drawn into another massive stop as Maxim Musorov skated in on net unopposed but Whistle blanked him, with help from the post, but when Josh Roach was penalised for tripping he had to make a superb goal-line clearance when a shot bobbled along the paint.

And having weathered that flurry of chances, Morin doubled the lead at 13:13 when he buried Jordan Kawaguchi’s pass from the right to the left circle (0-2), with Owen making a good stop on Long off Cameron Pound’s pass to keep the lead at just two, but he was powerless to stop Mismash adding a third at 15:07 as he rifled into the twine from the edge of the left circle (0-3).

Second period

An early tripping penalty on Gabe Bast had the Giants killing again but the defenceman had a big chance bursting out of the box as he skated in one-on-one on Owen but the goaltender made the save, while Whistle was alert to save from Lucas Chiodo as the Fife forward skated in down the slot.

It looked like Morin would have a tap-in as Kyle Osterberg wandered across the face of goal and dropped it for the centre to shoot but he was robbed by the glove of Owen, while similarly Cichy was robbed by Whistle as he came out to glove down a golden chance for the Flyers forward.

And immediately he was rewarded by Piccinich, who drove into the offensive zone and managed to bank the puck off the skates of Owen and in for the Giants’ fourth goal at 33:00 (0-4), and they would add a fifth before the buzzer as Kawaguchi and Morin combined for Long to go bar down from the right circle at 38:06 (0-5).

Third period

It took just 1:16 for the Giants to add a sixth as a holdover slashing penalty on Drake Pilon allowed Mismash to feed Kawaguchi for the one-time finish from the right face-off dot on the powerplay (0-6) and but for Owen they could have added the seventh as a nice passing play set up a chance in the slot for Bast but he was denied by the netminder.

The visitors weren’t done there and back-to-back penalties on Noah Delmas (high sticking) and Phélix Martineau (slashing) gave them the 5-on-3 powerplay and they took full advantage, Mismash placing the pass on Morin’s stick and he redirected it past Owen from the slot for the goal at 51:06 (0-7).

Despite the scoreline, Whistle still had to be sharp to maintain his shut-out as he saved well from James Spence in front to complete his clean sheet and the Giants would close it out comfortably on the powerplay as Martineau once again headed off for hooking late on.

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants continue their Challenge Cup group campaign with a double-header against the Glasgow Clan, heading to the Braehead Arena on Saturday 12 October before a rematch at The SSE Arena, Belfast on Sunday 13 October. Tickets are available here.

Images by Fife Flyers.