A Stinging Win

What a difference a week makes!

Last weekend the Hull Stingrays travelled to Dundalk and handed the Coors Belfast Giants a 2-0 shutout defeat, further hampering the Giants early season and forcing Ed Courtenay to take drastic action. So with every player allegedly receiving their two weeks notice, the Giants travelled to Hull for a return fixture in the Hull Arena.

This time however, it was the Giants who were to be the dominant force in the game, from first face off to final buzzer. Carlyle Lewis, one of the players under scrutiny with nothing but a single assist in the first 11 games of the season, was moved up to a line with Ed Courtenay and Ryan Smith. He immediately reaped the reward. A pass to him on the right boards from Courtenay allowed Lewis to tee up a direct shot on Latislav Kudrna's goal, and despite the Hull Netminder getting a piece of the puck, it still hit the back of the net, instantly doubling Lewis' points tally for the season.

The Giants took control of the game and Carlyle Lewis in particular was not content with that start, before the final buzzer he would have a few more points on the board. The Giants themselves took a 2-0 lead mid way through the first. Leigh Jamieson wound up a spectacular shot from the left side of the blueline, and high up in the slot Ryan Smith tipped with his stick and deceived Kudrna. A 2-0 lead into the break left Hull looking very out of sorts.

In a scrappy, feisty game, Moray Hanson had plenty of work to do in handing out penalties. But despite the Hull Stingrays receiving a multitude of powerplays in the first and second periods, including more than one 5-on-3 opportunity, it was the Giants who looked the more dangerous team. This was down to a mixture of a great Giants penalty kill and a woeful Hull powerplay.

Scott Cameron notched up the Giants 3rd goal of the night, a tap in from a Sutter pass, while Carlyle Lewis was back on the score sheet moments later, Courtenay and Jamieson turning provider. That was the end of Latislav Kudrna's game, the netminder looked to be suffering a distinct lack of confidence in the game and was replaced by back-up Tom Chamberlain. The young back-up held out for 10 minutes before Cameron returned the favour to Sutter with a fantastic pass from the left boards providing a clean shot on goal for Sutter in the slot to fire past Chamberlain and give the Giants a 5-0 lead going in to the final session.

The Giants started the final period on a powerplay, while the Hull Stingrays were also down an import in Rob Rankin. Rankin was on the end of a superb open ice hit from Mark Dutiaume that rather upset the American forward. In his frustration he tracked Leigh Jamieson and in doing so lifted his stick towards the Giants face, Hanson immediately called Rankin on the Highsticking, and a nice little bit of back-chat from Rankin gave himself another 10 minutes in the box for a misconduct.

The Giant's started strong on the powerplay, forcing themselves into the Hull zone and cycling the puck very well. When Hull gained the puck, Thoma attempted a high clearance, however it was picked out of the air by Ed Courtenay's glove. The Giants coach quickly distributed i the puck to Dutiaume in the right circle who hit it first time past Chamberlain for the Giant's sixth goal of the evening.

The Giants were very tight at the back, though they were not overly challenged by the Hull forwards, Mark Dutiaume deserves praise for his long shifts and phenomenal play. The Giants have been short on import D-men with the loss of both Trevor Johnson and Roman Gavalier to injury. Dutiaume, however, looked by far the most accomplished defenceman on the ice, and caused a lot of problems for the Hull attackers.

There was only one more goal for the Giants, and it was scored by Ed Courtenay. Courtenay was everywhere on the ice through the game, barking orders, setting up shots, organising and running the game. His well deserved goal came from a Ryan Smith pass to the right hand side as Courtenay entered the zone unchallenged and slotted it nearside on Chamberlain, as easy as you like, 7-0 and 5 minutes to play

It was here that the Giants sat back, the game well and truly won, the line of British payers were sent out for shift after shift after shift. It was unfortunate the Giants couldn't hold on to the shut out. Phillipe DeRouville, who had little to deal with all night, was beaten by Paul Cabana in the last minute of the game, Cabana having two bites at the goal, one saved by DeRouville, but the rebound quickly finished by Cabana.

So what can the Giants take from this win? Well it is easy to get carried away by the scoreline, however it was a very poor performance by the Hull Stingrays and to take it as a full change in momentum would be an exaggeration. The Giants did, however, look very well organised, confident and the re-organisation of the lines to bring Lewis up to the first and send Cameron down to the second has helped Lewis' game. Cameron on the other hand had a frustrating match where he never seemed to get going. At the back, DeRouville had little to do, however never looked all that confident with what he had, the defence were able to mop up any slight discrepancy, and Dutiaume showed his skills in both defence and counter-attacking.

It's a quick trip down the motorway for the Giants tonight to the Altringham IceDome, where the Giants take on the Manchester Phoenix. A team who have lost 4 of their last 5 games. Mike Hicks is in charge of this game, his first Giants game since last season. The Giants will be hoping to put a "streak" together for the first time this season. But it will be tough.

Patrick Smyth

Edited by James Lynch

Once again tonight you'll be able to keep track of all the action from Manchester here on KotG. Arron will be hosting the Live Updates, while the Chatroom will be open for buisiness. And of course all the stats are available on ih-update.

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