Giants Pay Penalty in Nottingham Loss

FIRST PERIOD

Nottingham almost opened the scoring on the opening shift of the game as Otto Nieminen put the puck back in front for Hugo Roy, but Jackson Whistle shut the door in close, and the Giants had the better of the early exchanges after that as Ryan Bednard saved well from Elijiah Barriga after a blue-line turnover, then Jordan Kawaguchi shot wide on the backhand after Pierre-Olivier Morin fed the puck across the crease.

It was a double minor penalty on a high-stick from J.J. Piccinich that handed Nottingham the lead at 7:28, Roy with a shortside snipe from the right circle for the powerplay goal (1-0). Once they returned to full strength, it was the Giants who were the more threatening, and Morin was only denied an equaliser by Bednard, who flashed the leather to glove the shot from the slot.

Another penalty against Lake was this time played out by the Giants and they were unlucky not to tie it when Gabe Bast’s shot from the blue-line snuck through the pads of Bednard, but was cleared out of the crease by Joshua Tetlow.

Instead, Nottingham doubled its lead at 16:40 when Bo Hanson hooked back Didrik Henbrant on the breakaway to concede a penalty shot, and Kristoff Kontos beat Whistle five-hole on the one-on-one (2-0), with the Giants ending the period on the powerplay as Henbrant was penalised for high-sticking.

SECOND PERIOD

The Panthers managed to kill off the rest of Henbrant’s penalty to start the second period. The Giants continued to put the pressure on, with Piccinich nearly setting up Morin on the doorstep, but he couldn’t get the puck free from his feet to finish before Whistle made a superb stop to deny Nieminen, going post-to-post to save the Nottingham winger’s left circle one-timer.

Nottingham came close to adding a third on a Scott Conway slashing penalty as Reid Stefanson hit the crossbar, while the Giants twice thought they might have scored on a Zsombor Garát interference call as Morin had the puck in the net but it was ruled out for goaltender interference, then Mark Cooper just tipped over a pass to the crease.

But the goal was coming, and it arrived at 32:18 as a loose play in the offensive zone saw Josh Roach skate in and fake the shot before delivering the perfect pass to the left circle for Lake to finish and make it a one-goal game (2-1). However, Whistle had to stay strong to deny Henbrant driving the net from the right circle shortly after, saving well with his pads, with Belfast passing up a late chance to tie the game in the second period when Matt Alfaro was called for hooking.

THIRD PERIOD

An interference penalty on Nieminen gave the Giants the first chance to strike in the third period, but Nottingham made the kill. The home side perhaps should have pulled ahead when the puck fell to Henbrant at the back post, but he couldn’t steer it in. Bednard made another good stop with his shoulder to deny Morin.

Once again, penalties would cost the Giants, as a slashing call against Morin was followed by consecutive calls against Lake (hooking) and Grant Mismash (unsportsmanlike conduct). That resulted in Tim Doherty increasing the Panthers’ lead, snapping in the one-timer from the angle at 52:29 on the 5-on-3 powerplay (3-1). Then, Sam Herr tapped in from close range at 53:06 for another powerplay goal for the fourth (4-1).

Whistle was pulled for the extra skater with just over three minutes remaining, but it would prove to be in vain as instead, Stefanson iced the result at 57:34, flicking the puck the length of the ice for the empty net goal to round off the scoring (5-1).

UP NEXT

The Belfast Giants will continue on the road next weekend against the Guildford Flames and Coventry Blaze before returning home to The SSE Arena on Wednesday, October 30th, to face Glasgow Clan in the Challenge Cup. Tickets are available here.