Giants and Panthers fight fairly for a point.

01-Oct-2003Before the first Giants/Panthers clash of the season at the NIC, the questions on everyoneâ??s lips were; will it be like last season? Will there be gloves dropped all over the ice and bitter personal scores being settled? Only 12 minutes in penalties were given out in total, providing welcome answers and an entertaining game.

The Giants led for most of the contest through a spectacular or some may say speculative effort from Todd Kelman, but the Panthers equalized not long before the final buzzer. After a scoreless overtime, Rob Stewart should be pleased with a point from a difficult game. Nottingham made the brighter start, and were on the powerplay with only a minute or so gone. Jason Bowen went to the box after a needless trip and the Panthers hit the post when Joel Salonenâ??s shot was deflected. When back at full strength the Giants made some great chances, particularly when the Schulte-Kenny-Sample line was on the ice. Jason Ruff began to impose himself on the game and almost gave the Giants the lead when Nottinghamâ??s Sundberg lost the puck in his crease, but he recovered to save. Right at the end of the first period came a moment of magic or perhaps just a moment of extreme fortune for Todd Kelman. Kelman picked up the puck at his own blue line and skated to halfway before unleashing a hopeful slapshot that somehow beat Sundberg and hit the top corner of the net. Paul Adey must have been fuming at his goalieâ??s lapse in concentration with only 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

Colin Ryder was in the thick of the action early in the second period, giving the puck away near the boards and almost gifting the Panthers a goal, then making a superb save when Cadotte was clean through. The Panthers dominated the period and had real scoring chances through Cadotte, John Craighead and Calle Carlsson. Belfast had a worrying moment or two when Shane Johnson lay prone on the ice after an innocuous challenge behind Ryderâ??s net. After receiving treatment he skated to the bench and returned to the ice later in the game. Belfast almost sneaked another goal before the end of the period, but Schulte couldnâ??t squeeze the puck home with Sundberg flat on his back.

The third period was a lot livelier, but neither side had much luck in front of net. Craighead went close for Nottingham and Belfast had a goal ruled out because Paul Sample was stood in the crease. Braine Thompson went one on one with Colin Ryder but somehow his shot was saved by the diving netminder. As the pace quickened, the hits became more frequent and Nottinghamâ??s James Morgan felt the full force of Paxton Schulteâ??s shoulder. Adeyâ??s men were cursing their luck when they struck the bar twice in the space of a few minutes. Mikko Koivunoro and then Kim Ahlroos saw their shots rebound off Colin Ryderâ??s goal before the Giants took an unfortunate penalty. Leigh Jamieson had played a solid game, but seemed confused when his teammates began shouting at him to drop his stick. Leigh was unaware that the stick was broken and before Colin Ward slashed it from his hand, referee Nigel Boniface signalled a â??use of illegal equipmentâ?? penalty. Nottingham made no mistake and punished the Giants on the powerplay. The ever-impressive John Craighead fired home the equalizer with less than two minutes left in the game.

Over-time saw few chances and both teams looked jaded. The only incident came when Jason Bowen ran Cadotte into the boards, dropping the Panther to the ice. Most of the crowd called for a penalty but Boniface saw nothing wrong with the hit. Despite some end-to-end play neither netminder was troubled and the game ended 1-1.

Jason Ruff, Paul Sample and Curtis Bowen all shone for the Giants, but the man of the match award went to Colin Ryder. Nottinghamâ??s Paul Moran was rewarded for his tireless work and industry and picked up his teamâ??s man of the match prize.

Graham Smyth

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P	TEAM	GP	W(OT)	L(OT)	PTS
1	Giants	54	46(0)	5(3)	95
2	Steelers	54	41(0)	11(2)	84
3	Panthers	54	38(0)	12(4)	80
4	Devils	54	32(0)	12(10)	74
5	Blaze	54	32(0)	20(2)	66
6	Clan	54	31(0)	19(4)	66
7	Stingrays	54	16(0)	34(4)	36
8	Stars	54	13(0)	35(6)	32
9	Capitals	54	13(0)	37(4)	30
10	Flyers	54	8(0)	40(6)	22

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Belfast Giants Statistic Leaders

Points	Robert Dowd	78
Goals	Robert Dowd	40
Assists	Craig Peacock	49
PIM	Adam Keefe	247

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