Bobo Brilliance Leads Giants Over Flyers

The winger fired home three times, accompanied by a brace from Scott Conway and strikes from Ben Lake, Jeff Baum, Pierre-Olivier Morin, and Elijiah Barriga, which was enough for the Giants to claim the two points.

First Period

A strong start from the Giants saw Mike Lee hit the crossbar with the first opportunity before Tom McCollum was called into action for the first time when he denied Kieran Craig from the left circle, but it wouldn’t take long for Charles-Antoine Paiment to put the visitors ahead as he finished on the breakaway just 1:55 into the tie (0-1).

But a quickfire double put the Giants ahead, J.J. Piccinich feeding Conway for the right circle finish at 2:26 (1-1) to get the hosts back on level terms just 31 seconds later, and then Lake got the go-ahead goal as he snapped home from Mark Cooper bringing the puck back in front at 3:17 (2-1), with McCollum doing the needful at the other end when Massimo Carozza went on the breakaway for Fife.

The chances kept coming as Conway nearly struck on a shorthanded breakaway when Josh Roach was penalised for hooking, only for Janis Voris to produce a spectacular save, and then McCollum needed to be at his best to get a pad to Evan MacKinnon’s back post chance on the same powerplay, but another two quick goals put the Giants into a commanding position.

Carpenter got the first when he ripped one in from the slot at 11:30 (3-1) and then Barriga laid it on a plate for Baum to tap in at the back post just 35 seconds later for the fourth (4-1), and Ciaran Long nearly had a cheeky fifth as he faked to dump the puck into the zone but instead rifled a shot towards net, Voris only recovering at the last second to make the save.

Second Period

A holdover slashing penalty on Phelix Martineau from the first period allowed the Giants to get off to the perfect start to the second period as Morin rifled in from the slot for the powerplay goal just 50 seconds after the restart (5-1) before two goals in 40 seconds saw Carpenter take centre stage, the winger finishing at the crease for his second at 24:13 (6-1) and then providing the pass in front for Barriga to fire home at 24:53 (7-1).

The eighth arrived on the powerplay at 27:44 as Martineau again sat, this time for hooking, and Conway snapped in the one-timer from the right circle (8-1), and only for Voris the scoreline wasn’t bigger as the Latvian shot-stopper denied Jordan Kawaguchi in close and then two chances for David Goodwin from passes by Long and Piccinich.

The Flyers did have a spell of pressure to remind the Giants that they were still a threat, with Austin Farley going closest to finding their second but he could only flick wide, while Voris managed to shut the Giants out for the remainder of the period, his best save keeping Lee off the scoresheet late on.

Third Period

A much less hectic start to the third period eventually broke when Kawaguchi stepped into a chance at the edge of the left circle and fired wide, and then Voris made two big shoulder saves on efforts from Piccinich and Barriga, both from the right circle, with Gabe Bast rocketing a shot just wide shortly after.

Mark Cooper had a big chance when he went on the breakaway, but Voris managed to freeze the puck after making the save, but there was still time for Carpenter to complete his hat-trick at 57:08, the winger tapping in from Barriga’s back post pass for his treble and to round off the scoring (9-1).

Next Up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants continue a home double-header when the Manchester Storm come to Belfast on Sunday 30 March. Limited tickets remain and can be purchased here.