STERLING SILVER FOR GIANTS SEALS FOUR POINT WEEKEND

The early stages of the first period were back and forth but the hosts had the better of the chances with Bo Hanson having a shot saved by Jason Grande. This was followed by some twinkling stick work from Ben Lake but he also saw his shot rejected by the Panthers goalie. However, the pressure would tell eventually, and it was P.O. Morin who got one over the line. After some pressure on the goal with Bobo Carpenter and Kyle Osterberg having a go, the latter of those two moved the puck to the Québécois forward who lifted the puck into the roof of the net. (1-0)

Just 66 seconds later, the Giants went on the powerplay as Jaakko Niskala was sat down but they could not take advantage and the Panthers would soon make the most of a man advantage of their own. With Carpenter penalised for slashing, Kristoff Kontos swept the puck past Jackson Whistle to level proceedings. (1-1)

Elijiah Barriga came close to restoring the home lead but it was another Nottingham powerplay that brought about a second goal for the visitors. This time it was Grant Mismash who had taken a seat and Whistle’s save fell kindly for Mitchell Fossier to bundle over the line (1-2).

Second Period

The Giants immediately went on the attack to begin the second as they looked to restore parity. JJ Piccinich and Morin were the first to test Grande with the latter of the two seeing his shot spilled but Barriga couldn’t force the puck over the line. It was not all one-way traffic as Whistle was forced into some good saves. First, he was tested by Matt Spencer before repelling Oliver Betteridge. The Giants killed a penalty awarded to Ciaran Long and actually came closest to a goal in that time with Morin almost notching a short-handed effort. Long thought he had the leveller shortly after returning from the penalty box with the red light going off but Grande had actually produced an impressive stretching save lying on his back to deny the Giants number 89.

That second goal did arrive though and it was Carpenter who got it on 32:53 as he was lurking in front of the blue paint to latch on to a pass from Barriga (2-2). Jordan Kawaguchi tried his best to nudge the hosts in front before the second intermission with a vicious shot on the spin but it was well stopped meaning we went into the final 20 all square.

Third Period

In front of a sold-out crowd with a sizeable travelling support, the atmosphere in the arena was at fever pitch as we entered the final period with the game finely in the balance. Long was having an eventful evening and was not about to be denied his goal. It was a beautiful length-of-the-ice pass from Josh Roach that sent him racing clear and he kept his composure to slot home on 46:58. (3-2)

The Panthers would not lie down as they looked to avoid a weekend sweep and Whistle was called into action again as he kept out shots from Spencer and Otto Nieminen. Ultimately, the game was in the balance right up until the final eleven seconds when Scott Conway finished the game off in style. He sent the puck all of 200 feet from his own goal line into the empty net to wrap up the win and the crucial four points. (4-2)

Up Next

The Giants are back at home for another two-game weekend. On Saturday, the Sheffield Steelers are in town with Manchester Storm the visitors on Sunday. You can get tickets here.