Stena Line Belfast Giants 5-1 Milton Keynes Lightning.
Friday 5th October, The SSE Arena, Belfast.
Elite League.xa0
Five Star Giants Strike Lightning In Weekend Opener
The Stena Line Belfast Giants made an impressive start to a three game weekend with a 5-1 defeat of the Milton Keynes Lightning in Belfast on Friday writes Mark Brooks.
A game winning goal from Kyle Baun as well as three final period goals gave the Giants two valuable Elite League points putin them in the driving seat.
Both sides will come face-to-face again on Saturday with face-offxa0 at 7pm at The SSE Arena, before the Giants travel to Coventry on Sunday to complete their weekend fixtures.
Tyler Beskorowany started in the Giants net and had an excellent game having turned away 29 shots with Jim Vandermeer, Matt Towe and Andrew Dickson missing for the hosts.
The Giants dominated the opening period in Belfast and got their deserved breakthrough at 16:09 when Paul Swindlehurst skated the puck into the Lightning zone and picked out Francis Beauvillier at the back post to slam home for the 1-0 lead.
The gloves were dropped in middle period. Then Lightning regrouped during the first intermission and equalised early in the middle period. Georgs Golovkovs’ shot squeezed its way into the Belfast goal at 24:43, assisted by Eric Neiley.
Shortly after Guillaume Gelinas had the Giants fans on their feet rooting for him when he dropped the gloves with MK’s Neiley. Gelinas executed well, holding off the 5’11” forward and getting an impressive takedown at 27:13.
The Giants regained the lead at 36:23 on the powerplay when Dustin Johner found Kyle Baun in front of goal and the forward continued his rich vein of form when he shot low into the MK net.
The Giants came flying out of the blocks in the final period and grabbed an insurance goal at 45:36. Colin Shields initial shot was saved by Killeen and Jonathan Boxill picked up the rebound and fired high into the MK net from a tight angle.
Pat Dwyer made it 4-1 on the powerplay at 47:29 with a fine finish, assisted by Dustin Johner and Kyle Baun.
Giants Captain Blair Riley made it five on the night at 48:45, assisted by David Rutherford as the home side made it two powerplay goals in as many minutes.
The Final Score ofxa0 Stena Line Belfast Giants 5-1 Milton Keynes Lightning was a convincing win.
Th Giants Man of the Match wasxa0#8 Lewis Hook.
The Giants and the Lightning face-off again on Saturday (tonight) for the second instalment of their weekend double header. Sunday sees the Giants travel to Coventry for a 5:15pm face-off against the Blaze.
Tickets are now on sale fromxa0ticketmaster.iexa0as well as from the Arena Box Office in person or by calling 028 9073 9074.
