Giants Mack Winning Start to New Season

The two-way forward opened the scoring on the net before new signings Bobo Carpenter and Pierre-Olivier Morin secured the win in the third period, with returning forwards Ciaran Long and Elijiah Barriga adding some gloss to the scoreline late on.

First period

New Giants netminder Tom McCollum - 24 saves - introduced himself to the SSE Arena crowd early on with some fine stops, firstly denying Gleason Fournier in close and then Kohen Olischefski after a nice reverse pass from Zach O’Brien.

At the other end, a quick move saw Mark Cooper nearly set up Kyle Osterberg on the rush, then Mac Carruth did superbly to turn away Cooper’s sharp angle shot before McCollum produced another fine double save on Reid Duke and then Ryan Barrow.

Cardiff would pull ahead late in the period as Bayley Harewood won the battle along the boards and fed Hunter Shinkaruk for the five-hole finish (0-1), although Morin was close to tying things up before the buzzer only for Carruth to save.

Second period

The Giants had two early chances on the powerplay as Riley Brandt sat for roughing and then Andrew MacWilliam headed off for slashing, and Carruth once again made a sensational stop to deny Barriga on the first of those powerplays.

Barriga had another opportunity shortly after when he came within inches of converting a Grant Mismash rebound and he and Gabe Bast both had chances during a sustained period of offensive zone pressure shortly after Shinkaruk hit the post for Cardiff.

But the goal would come at 34:31 through an unlikely source, Stewart found on the doorstep by J.J. Piccinich and beating Carruth on the backhand (1-1), with the period ending with Long dropping the gloves with Tyler Busch.

Third period

A roughing penalty against Cody Donaghey at the end of the second period put the Giants on an early powerplay and they took full advantage, Cooper feeding Carpenter for the top corner finish at 41:18 for the game winning goal. (2-1)

And after McCollum once again flashed the leather to deny Ben Davies on a one-on-one, the Giants added to their lead at 43:24 as Jordan Kawaguchi produced the perfect pass across the face of goal for Morin to tap in. (3-1)

It took 53 seconds for the Giants to put the game to bed, McCollum once again impressive to save from Olischefski before Cooper fed Long back in front for the finish at 52:06 (4-1) and then Barriga scored the goal of the game, finishing a beautiful move in front at 52:59. (5-1)

Cardiff still had chances to grab a late consolation but McCollum would not be beaten again as he blanked O’Brien and then Brant hit the crossbar on a Josh Roach hooking penalty to end their chances of finding the net again.

Next up

The Belfast Giants head to Cardiff on Sunday August 25 for their second pre-season clash with Team Great Britain at the Vindico Arena before a Canadian college double-header at The SSE Arena, Belfast, taking on Carleton University on Friday 30 August and the University of Alberta on Sunday 1 September. The two college teams will face each other on Saturday 31 August. Tickets available here.