Stena Line Belfast Giants 3-0 Nottingham Panther
Elite Ice Hockey League.xa0
Sunday 22nd September. The SSE Arena, Belfast.
Report by Mark Brooks.
Morgan Double Sees Off Nottingham Panthers.
The Stena Line Belfastxa0Giantsxa0opened their home Elite League campaign with a win against the Nottingham Panthers. A shutout from Shane Owen and brace from Liam Morgan helped thexa0Giantsxa0get back to winning ways. The win represented Belfast’s first in league play this season, as their record now sits at 1-1.G
A big issue in Saturday’s loss to the Dundee Stars was thexa0Giantsxa0inability to convert on any of their powerplay opportunities. However thexa0Giantsxa0managed to put things right early in Sunday’s game.
At 9:13 of the first period, Liam Morgan’s deflected shot flew over goaltender Kevin Carr’s shoulder. Belfast would skate into the intermission with a 1-0 lead and a 19-9 lead on the shot clock.xa0S
Thexa0Giantsxa0carried their 1-0 into the second intermission after a hard-fought, back-and-forth second frame.xa0
Goaltender Shane Owen stood tall in the second to help thexa0Giantsxa0maintain their one-goal lead as the Panthers started to find their game. The Panthers fired eleven shots at Ward in the frame but he turned them all aside.xa0M
With under 10 seconds to go in the second period, Brian Ward was called for a five-minute tripping major after an awkward knee-on-knee collision. Ward was also booted from the game and Liam Morgan served the penalty.xa0
The five-minute power play presented the Panthers a golden opportunity to finally break through and tie the game at 1-1. Just over a minute into their power play, the Panthers took a two-minute penalty of their own. After a minute of four-on-four action, the Panthers took yet another penalty, ultimately killing off virtually all of their five-minute power play on their own.xa0
Nottingham’s poor discipline continued as they took a tripping minor in the defensive zone, giving thexa0Giantsxa0a four-on-three power play. Despite good puck movement, thexa0Giantsxa0weren’t able to get the puck by Carr, who robbed Patryk Wronka with an incredible diving stick save.xa0L
After killing off a two-minute penalty, thexa0Giantsxa0finally added some much-needed insurance. At 54:14, Lewis Hook fed Liam Morgan who ripped a shot past Carr for his second goal of the game.xa0
In the final minute of the game, Curtis Hamilton ripped a shot from centre ice into an empty Nottingham net to give thexa0Giantsxa0a 3-0 lead. The empty-netter extended Hamilton’s goal-scoring streak to four games.xa0O
A key part of Sunday’s victory was a 26-save shutout performance from Shane Owen. It was his first shutout as a member of thexa0Giants.xa0
On the other hand, Sunday’s match represented yet another situation in which thexa0Giantsxa0ran into a red-hot opposing goalie. Just one day after losing due to a 65-save performance, Panthers’ goaltender Kevin Carr turned aside 49 of 51 shots thexa0Giantsxa0put on the net.xa0
Final Score Stena Line Belfast Giants 3-0 Nottingham Panthers.
Giants Player of the Game #21 Liam Morgan (2 Goals).
Next Up?
The Giants return to Challenge Cup action next weekend with back-to-back games against the Fife Flyers – first on Saturday in Belfast, face-off 7pm before Sunday’s game in Scotland, face-off 6:30pm. Tickets are now available online now through: ticketmaster.ie
