The Belfast Giants secured top spot in their Challenge Cup group with a 2-1 overtime win over the Glasgow Clan at The O2 Belfast on Sunday evening
First Period.
The first shot of the game came off the stick of Belfast Giants’ Mike Lee whose shot was tipped over the bar before his d-line partner Christian Berger saw his effort plucked out of the air by Rasmus Tirronen.
The visitors threatened first through David Madsen who fizzed a shot wide before Rob Lachowicz’s shot was tipped over the bar by Jake Kupsky.
Nicolas Guay went on a one-man mission to open the scoring when his first shot was well stopped, he just trickled the rebound wide of the post. Reece Harsch’s shot was held by Kupsky before Morten Jensen was sent to the penalty box for a tripping call and Glasgow took advantage.
It was Mick Messner who opened the scoring on the powerplay at 13:52 off a Cade Neilson pass, meaning the visitors went into the first intermission with a narrow lead (0-1).
Second Period
The hosts could not have asked for a better start to the second period as they were back on level terms less than 30 seconds after the restart. It was captain David Goodwin who put the puck in the net from close-range on 20:26 after nice work from JJ Piccinich (1-1).
Adam Keefe’s men tried to continue their momentum through an effort from Mason Klee that was tipped wide by a stick in front of net before Piccinich had a couple of efforts himself to no avail.
Jake Johnson responded by fizzing an effort just over Kupsky’s crossbar before his side were forced on to the penalty kill after a hooking call on Madsen midway through the period. The hosts went on the front foot with the man advantage with early efforts from Jake Gaudet and Conway that were blocked and tipped wide respectively.
Kaleb Pearson and Jordan Kawaguchi also tried their luck but through a combination of brave defending and good goal-tending, the Clan killed the penalty.
Having survived the penalty, Steven Birnstill’s side finished the period with a couple of good efforts of their own. First, Neilson hammered a puck on net that Kupsky did superbly to save before goal-scorer Messner also picked out the Giants goalie’s glove as we entered the second intermission with the game firmly in the balance.
Third Period
The hosts started the third on the front foot but neither Goodwin nor Lee could find the target with shots before Klee’s blocked effort fell to the feet of Nicolas Guay but his shot was smothered by the impressive Tirronen.
Guay had another effort that came back off the backboards and landed nicely for Jordan Kawaguchi but he couldn’t force the puck home. Jaeden Martin was the next to try his luck with a rasper from the blue line but Tirronen was equal to it again.
The visitors came back into proceedings with shots from Messner and captain Deven Sideroff as they tried to snatch the victory with time running out but, ultimately, the game would be decided in overtime.
Overtime
The point was already enough for the Giants to secure top spot but they wanted more on home ice and, after Nicolas Guay flicked a puck wide, the winner came via the stick of Jensen who, after scoring his first Giants goal on Wednesday, rifled home past Tirronen at 61:24 to seal the extra point (2-1).
Up Next
The Giants go on a three-game road trip starting with a visit to Cardiff on Wednesday. The next home game is the first Motorpoint Elite League at The O2 Belfast on Saturday 7th November with the visit of the Guildford Flames. You can purchase tickets for that one here.
(Courtesy of Belfast Giants©).
