Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
Huppe Power!
19-Feb-2006 | Discuss this ArticleYet again it was a must win game for the Coors Belfast Giants as they arrived in Sheffield for a first game in a week on the latest stop on the quest for the Elite League title.
Despite being a player short with Steve O'Brien missing, the Giants got off to a flying start for the second week running in a road game as they took an early lead, Colin Shields firing home at 3.41 from Shane Johnson.
The struggling Steelers held out for a further 8 minutes before Jason Bowen scored on the powerplay, skating out from the right wing boards and firing the puck past Jody Lehmann to double the lead. Only 50 seconds later, Curtis Huppe wristed the puck into the top corner to make it 3-0 and leading to Jody Lehmann being replaced by Davy Lawrence in the Sheffield goal.
Moving into the second period the Giants seemed to ease off a little and with Leigh Jamieson in the penalty box serving a too many men penalty, Ron Shudra took advantage on the Steelers Powerplay firing a rebound past the prone Mike Minard to bring the Steelers back into the game at 3-1.
.As the period drew on however, and despite suffering some penalty trouble, killing off a long 5 on 3 Steelers powerplay at one point, the Giants class began to tell, Ed Courtenay picking up his 24th goal of the season at 35.09 after a good feed from Curtis Huppe.
After the impressive display of the defensive special teams, the offensive special teams took over, Todd Kelman snapping the puck past Lawrence for the second powerplay goal on just the second powerplay chance ending the second period with the Giants cruising at 5-1.
Theo Fleury kept the powerplay percentage at 100% for the night with Mark Dutiame in the box for interference, finding the top corner of the goal at 43.35 giving Huppe his fourth point of the night with the assist.
Curtis Huppe completed the scoring making it 7-1 with his second goal and fifth point of the night at 47.26 with an assist from man of the match Theo Fleury and Ed Courtenay.
With the Devils surprisingly beating the Vipers 5-1 in Newcastle this now means that should the Giants win in regulation time on Wednesday night the title shall return to the Odyssey. Don't forget to get your tickets quickly!
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 |