Three Up for Giants in Cup Semi-Final

Goals from Mark Cooper, Ciaran Long and Jordan Kawaguchi complemented the Great Britain international’s clean sheet to give Adam Keefe’s side the advantage heading to the Motorpoint Arena in two weeks’ time.

First period

A high intensity opening from both sides was accompanied by a lack of real clear-cut chances as Jordan Kawaguchi was denied in close by Jason Grande and Tim Doherty rifled wide after driving in from the right, but the game got the early goal it deserved at 8:51 as Cooper provided a sparkling solo effort, skating through the zones, beating his man at the blue-line and forcing the puck in five-hole (1-0).

The same man nearly doubled his, and the Giants’, tally shortly after when he fired over the cage from the left circle before Jackson Whistle made his first big stop of the night as he forced Reid Stefanson wide in a one-on-one and then saved the follow-up effort from Hugo Roy.

The lead would be doubled at 14:28 as the Giants smartly caught Nottingham on a line change and took full advantage, Elijah Barriga dishing to the slot for Long to finish into the roof of the net on the backhand (2-0) and Whistle would ensure the gap remained two at the break with two massive saves on Doherty and Otto Nieminen as time ticked down.

Second period

Whistle did well to glove down an early deflected Sam Herr effort, while Grande was equally alert to be quickest to a Grant Mismash rebound attempt before both netminders produced their best saves of the period mere seconds apart, Grande squeezing the pads to deny Scott Conway before Whistle threw out an arm to deflect a Herr backhand over.

Bobo Carpenter was within inches of adding a third for the Giants when he redirected a Pierre-Olivier Morin pass but it went just over, and the home side got a boost at the other end as a too many men penalty was played out, although they were perhaps fortunate as Herr failed to connect on Kristoff Kontos’ pass to the back post when, if he had, he would have scored.

The Giants got their own chance to strike on the powerplay as Matt Alfaro was boxed for cross-checking but Grande proved to be equal to their efforts, the Panthers netminder making a string of brilliant stops to deny J.J. Piccinich twice and Conway, too, to leave the scoreline as it was at the first intermission.

Third period

Once again Whistle had to be the sharper netminder in the early exchanges of the period as he turned away two slapshots from Matt Spencer and he was rewarded when the Giants found their third at 47:48, Cooper driving to the net from the right circle and, although he was hooked in the process of shooting, Kawaguchi was following in for the rebound (3-0).

Both sides had chances to grab goals before the final buzzer as Jeff Baum was called for delay of game and Davis Bunz sat for interference but neither side could connect, leaving the Giants in the driving seat heading into Nottingham in two weeks’ time.

Next up

The Stena Line Belfast Giants stay on home ice at The SSE Arena, Belfast on their return to Elite League action with the visit of the Fife Flyers on Friday 14 February, followed by a trip to the Sheffield Steelers on Sunday 16 February.

Photos by William Cherry.