Giants Steel Shutout Win at Home

First period

A frantic start saw the best chance fall to J.J. Piccinich as Jordan Kawaguchi fired the puck to him on the doorstep but his tip was denied by Matt Greenfield before Grant Mismash fired two efforts wide, with Greenfield then producing another couple of big saves to deny Piccinich and Carpenter during a Kevin Tansey tripping penalty.

But the Giants’ early onslaught continued and after Kawaguchi was denied a stunning goal as he went between the legs but only found Greenfield’s shoulder, Carpenter prompted the start of the Teddy Toss as he rifled in the rebound from Pierre-Olivier Morin’s initial effort to give the home side the lead at 10:50 (1-0).

Carpenter nearly found the second as he and Morin linked up again, but this time Greenfield was wise to his right circle one-timer, while at the other end Mark Simpson had the Steelers’ first real chance as he moved in from the right circle but found Tom McCollum’s glove, with Conway having two big chances once again steered away by Greenfield.

The centreman wouldn’t be denied for long, though, and when Patrick Watling was penalised for interference, Conway was the man on the spot to tap in at the back post off Mark Cooper’s pass from Gabe Bast’s deflected shot with 12.1 seconds to the intermission (2-0).

Second period

Belfast kept up the pressure early in the second period and Conway nearly turned provider as his one-two with Josh Roach led to the defenceman having an effort in the slot, but it was was well saved by Greenfield before the netminder also shut the door on Ben Lake as he snaked his way through the offensive zone.

The Steelers were getting small looks, with only a Bast stick denying Mikko Juusola on the breakaway, but they finally generated a quality chance and McCollum had to get the pad down quickly to deny Watling on the rebound off Colton Saucerman’s blue-line slapshot, with Maxim Golod then seeing his shot come back off the base of the post.

A tripping penalty on McCollum gave the Steelers their first powerplay of the game and the netminder redeemed himself with a massive save on a Mitchell Balmas one-time slapshot, while Morin nearly grabbed the third goal shorthanded on a breakaway slapshot, with Juusola’s deflected attempt and Elijiah Barriga’s shot from the edge of the right circle was padded away by Greenfield to keep the gap at two at the break.

Third period

Even though the Giants started the final frame on the penalty kill, Bast off for delay of game, they had the best two chances of the Steelers’ powerplay as Carpenter fired wide and then Piccinich stole the puck but fired into the mask of Greenfield, with Joona Huttula shooting over from the left circle shortly after the penalty expired.

Out of nothing, Kawaguchi grabbed the Giants’ third at 45:17, the winger skating into the right circle and rifling it perfectly into the top right corner (3-0) and the home side were able to kill off some more precious time as Huttula was boxed for cross-checking, with Mismash denied by Greenfield from adding a fourth.

A high-sticking penalty on Morin gave Sheffield the opportunity to pull Greenfield for the extra skater but they wouldn’t get through on the two-man advantage and instead the Giants would close it out on the powerplay as Marc-Olivier Vallerand took a high-sticking minor of his own, with McCollum closing out the shut-out in style.

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants welcome the Coventry Blaze to The SSE Arena, Belfast on Wednesday 18 December for more Elite League action. Tickets available to purchase here.