Lee Stars Again as Giants Take Three-Goal Lead Back to Dundee

First Period

Roared on by a large and boisterous crowd after the pre-game banner raising ceremony, the Giants came out of the traps quickly and immediately gave Jarret Fiske work to do in the Dundee goal. He was equal to efforts from JJ Piccinich and Bobo Carpenter, but the second of those saw the puck fall at the feet of Jordan Kawaguch who bundled the puck over the line for the opener (1-0)

That upped the volume in the arena even more, but, to their credit, the Stars reacted well when it would have been easy to crumble. Zach Tsekos had a pair of quick-fire efforts, the first saved by Jackson Whistle and the latter just wide. At the other end, Elijiah Barriga pickpocketed a Dundee defender, but neither he nor Mark Cooper could force the puck home.

The visitors kept up the pressure, and Philippe Sanche was repelled on the break before they levelled up the encounter with five minutes remaining in the first. This was thanks to Kyle Pouncy, who got a shot off from the right hash marks that got by an unsighted Whistle (1-1). The hosts then rode out a penalty against last weekend’s hero Mike Lee to ensure that we would head into the locker room level after 20 minutes.

Second Period

The second period was a slow burner, with chances at a premium early on. Belfast captain Cooper tried his luck to no avail while Barriga tipped Bo Hanson’s shot just wide. However, the deadlock would be broken just before the nine-minute mark. Lee was the hero last weekend with two overtime winners, and he was on the scoresheet again as he calmly and confidently swept home a loose puck after David Godwin’s shot was blocked (2-1)

Hockey is a game of inches, and that was true just after Lee’s effort when Xavier Pouliot’s shot squeezed under the pads of Whistle and was creeping to the goal line only to be swept away and into the Dundee red zone. In that zone, the hosts would strike with Ben Lake putting the finishing touches to a nice, patient move. (3-1). Lake could have had a second, but he whiffed on a cutback from his captain before Whistle emphatically closed the gate on Spencer Naas with the crack of the goalie’s stick echoing around the arena.

Third Period

The final 20 minutes of hockey in Belfast this season began with that man Tsekos troubling Whistle again before Carpenter went dancing up the ice but couldn’t put the finishing touches on his adventure towards goal. 05:15 into the period, Dundee’s Craig Garrigan was sent to the box to give the Giants their first powerplay of the night, and they took advantage of it in emphatic style. Garrigan had barely sat down when that man Lee continued his red-hot form by smashing home a puck from the left hash marks. (4-1).

Kawaguchi took a swing and a miss at a puck in front of the net but Grant Mismash would make no mistake on 56:46. (5-1) However, the home crowd didn’t really know where to look as a melee had broken out in the corner just as the puck hit the net which resulted in three players taking a seat. Belfast would be taking a healthy advantage back to Dundee for the second leg but the Stars wanted to start tomorrow with a smaller deficit and, with just over a minute remaining, they got a goal back through Cole MacDonald to cut the lead to three. (5-2). Tempers flared once more after this as Kameron Kielly and Scott Conway got in to warm the water up in the showers after a spirited tilt.

As the home crowd rose to their feet to see in the final few seconds of hockey on Belfast ice this season, the timer ran out meaning the Giants will have a three goal lead to defend as they head to the Dundee Ice Arena tomorrow. Puck drop is at 5pm with the winner on aggregate heading to Nottingham for finals weekend next week.

Thank you for all of your incredible support at the SSE Arena this season.