Giants Have Hell of a Night Over Devils

Morin tied things up after the Devils took the first period lead and then bookended the scoring with the second of two empty-netters, with captain Mark Cooper grabbing the game-winner and J.J. Piccinich scoring the other empty-netter as Adam Keefe’s side extended their lead to six points in the title race.

First Period

After a frenetic start from both teams, it was Cardiff who struck first at 3:36 when a deflected shot from Evan Mosey caused havoc in the Giants’ defensive end and the puck eventually fell to the stick of Tyler Busch, who finished into the roof of the net (0-1), with Mac Carruth getting down low to maintain the visitors’ early lead when Bobo Carpenter shot straight off a face-off shortly after.

Going behind seemed to spark the Giants into life and on the same shift David Goodwin and Mike Lee both had excellent chances just go wide of Carruth’s net, but the Devils were continuing to threaten on rushes up the ice, albeit they weren’t overly testing the net of Whistle with high quality chances.

Both teams could have struck in the final minute of the game, but Elijiah Barriga made an outstanding block on a Jarrod Gourley one-timer to direct it wide before Piccinich drove in from the right circle and just sent his shot over the bar before Bo Hanson couldn’t turn in a tasty rebound from the left face-off dot.

Second Period

Cooper had the period’s first chance as he drove in from the left circle and found the shoulder of Carruth, while Whistle did the needful when Cole Sanford found a pocket of space in front of net although Josh MacDonald should have done much better when found driving the back post by Joey Martin, only for the Devils forward to shoot wide.

Whistle was still making some big saves as Ryan Barrow almost capitalised on a defensive zone giveaway but the netminder turned away the shot and he was rewarded at 25:46 as Morin tied the game, the centre waiting on the doorstep to receive Carpenter’s wraparound pass to tap-in (1-1).

The Giants could have pulled ahead with two big chances shortly after when a roughing penalty on Andrew MacWilliam put them on the powerplay, from which they couldn’t score, and then Piccinich couldn’t convert a penalty shot for Sam Duggan playing a loose stick into the path of the puck, Carruth flashing the glove to make the stop.

Once more it was Whistle who kept the Giants level when he got the pad down to deny Sanford after Zach O’Brien’s pass to the crease, but the home side will have been frustrated not to pull ahead at the second intermission as they couldn’t convert on back-to-back calls on MacDonald (slashing) and Sanford (interference).

Third Period

Cardiff had a big start to the period as Mosey tested Whistle in close but the netminder held strong to save low and once more the goaltender would be rewarded for a big save with a goal as Cooper put the Giants ahead at 45:48, Grant Mismash leading the rush up the ice and feeding the captain, who beat Carruth high glove for the go-ahead goal (2-1).

Whistle then made another huge save, going post to post to save from MacDonald’s one-timer to immediately preserve the Giants’ lead, and then Kohen Olischefski would find it impossible to beat the netminder’s right pad from the right circle as the visitors piled on the pressure in their search for an equaliser.

They got a big chance when Mismash was penalised for delay of game, giving the Devils their first powerplay of the night, and Sanford came close to tying it when he hit the crossbar before Lake was inches away from adding a third for the Giants as the penalty expired but he was denied by a fantastic stop from Carruth.

But the Giants wouldn’t be denied, and they secured the two points by scoring two empty-netters as the Devils pulled Carruth for the extra skater, Piccinich grabbing the third at 58:24 (3-1) and Morin rounding things off at 59:39 (4-1).

Next Up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants complete their double-header with the Devils at The SSE Arena, Belfast on Saturday 22 February, followed by a massive Challenge Cup semi-final second leg with the Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint Arena on Wednesday 26 February. Tickets are on sale here.