Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
A Little Christmas Cheer
24-Dec-2005 | Discuss this ArticleThe Coors Belfast Giants can relax and enjoy their Christmas break, after their 4-1 win over the Sheffield Steelers, safe in the knowledge that they'll still be leading the league by at least eight points when they return to the ice on Wednesday.
Steelers' Coach Maxwell game plan was to go in with "an unbelievable defence" and he probably couldn't believe what he was seeing when his defenders opened up to let Theo Fleury skate in unchallenged and start the Giants tally for the night. Earlier in the game, the Giants had succeeded in killing off over a minute of a 5-on-3 Steelers powerplay and when it came to their own turn with a man advantage Colin Shields increased the lead to two.
The celebrations were short lived however, with Todd Kelman sitting out a hooking penalty, Warren Tait put the Steelers on the scoreboard with a shot that somehow trickled through Mike Minard's pads. The Steelers pushed for an equaliser to close out the first period, but Colin Shields bagged his second goal of the night, restoring the Giants lead.
After a lively first period, the second period was quite dull. The Giants put together some great plays but poor passing prevented them from adding to their tally. The Steelers returned to their game plan, tightening up their defence and taking their chances on the breakaway. Only some great saves from Mike Minard ensured that the period ended scoreless.
This style continued, with few scoring chances for either side in the third period. The two clearest chances falling to the Giants, with Shields missing a good chance to complete his first Giants hat trick having a breakaway stoned 1 on 1 by Jody Lehman making a good right pad save.
In the final minutes, with Jody Lehman on the bench, Giants' Captain George Awada added an empty net goal to finally put the game to bed and giving the final 4-1 scoreline.
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- Sat 07 Apr
- vs Devils, OTL 4-3
- Giants Goals: Rebek, Clarke, Hoffman
- Devils Goals: Matzka, Dobben, Piggot
League Standings
| 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 |
Giants' Stat Leaders
| Points | Robert Dowd | 78 |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Robert Dowd | 40 |
| Assists | Craig Peacock | 49 |
| PIM | Adam Keefe | 247 |