Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
Seventh Heaven
23-Jan-2006After Friday’s defeat at the hands of the Nottingham Panthers, the Coors Belfast Giants travelled to Basingstoke hoping to end their three league game losing streak and to make a return to winning ways.
The first period began and ended well for the Giants, Todd Kelman scoring the opening goal after five minutes of play, and Theo Fleury opening his account with the first of his five assists. Basingstoke pulled a goal back to tie the game, but Curtis Huppe sent the visitors into the break with the lead.
The teams traded goals in the opening stages of the second period with Edijis Brahmanis equalising and Kelman getting his second goal of the game, once again on the powerplay. Then The Bison then pushed forward and began to dominate the game. Their persistence paid off as their MoM, Jim Shepherd scored twice in five minutes to put the home team in front for the first time. However, the Giants powerplay unit was firing on all cylinders tonight, and with 30 seconds remaining in the period Curtis Huppe scored his second goal to tie the game at 4-4.
Although the Giants were tiring in the third period, their class managed to pull them through. Todd Kelman scored six minutes in, and less than three minutes later Theo Fleury scored his first goal, giving the Giants some breathing space.
In the dying minutes of the game Basingstoke pulled their netminder for the extra outskater. As the Giants found out on Friday night this is always a risky move to make. With less than thirty seconds on the clock, Giants superstar Theo Fleury scored the empty netter, his second goal and seventh point of the game (2G, 5A). Giants MoM Todd Kelman also got his second assist to bring his points tally to five for the game (3G,2A).
The win lifted the Giants nine points clear of the Nottingham Panthers in the chase for the title and 12 ahead of the Newcastle Vipers in third place, although the Panthers have three games in hand and the Vipers six.
Live Scores
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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 |