07 Oct 2023, 18:00 | Regular season | Guildford Spectrum |
Guildford Flames | 1-5 | Belfast Giants |
Periods: Shots: | 0-3 (7-9) | 1-1 (8-12) | 0-1 (10-10) | Total: 25-31 |
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Referees: Pering/Truswell  |  Spectators: 1779 |
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Goals and assists
Belfast Giants made it a winning start to their league campaign in
2023/24 with a four-goal victory in Guildford over the Flames, largely
down to their scoring in the opening 20 minutes.
However Giants
Head Coach Adam Keefe had drawn up his ideal first period, it probably
wouldn't have been too far from what his players managed to get done on
the ice. Ben Lake's shot from the slot got past Eamon McAdam into the
top corner to put the Giants ahead at 3:52, and while the visitors
killed a penalty Ara Nazarian's shot snuck past McAdam to double that
lead at 5:57 - both the Flames goalie might have wanted back. The hosts
had a good powerplay chance to get back into things but went for the
extra pass and saw the puck skip over Ryan Tait's stick. That came back
to bite the hosts who were three down to Quinn Preston's high finish at
13:39 to give the Giants a sizeable lead after the opening 20 minutes.
The
Giants were the more dangerous team in period two, although the the
pace of the game noticeably dropped over the next 20 minutes. The
visitors threw 12 shots on McAdam's net and eventually saw one get
through as Jeff Baum fired into the net from the slot at 37:38.
Guildford responded 25 seconds later when Lewis Hook found Kyle Lock
free in the slot for a wrist-shot finish.
Jordan Klimek and Ciaran
Long dropped the gloves after an incident in the slow in a final period
that didn't have much to write home about - the Giants had a fifth
washed out for a kicking motion, but did end up putting five on the
board when the puck trickled to Baum at the far post with an empty net
to aim at.