Kingdom Of The Giants :: Belfast Giants Fan Community, News & Views
Capitals Dispatched, Devils Get Revenge
22-Sep-2010
Edinburgh arrived in Belfast on Saturday evening to make their first appearance of this 2010/11 Elite League season. The Capitals arrived without a full quota of imports, but put up a strong showing hinting that they may be a potential banana skin as the season continues.
After a scoreless opening frame, two of the Giants ex-Capitals made their mark in the second period. Firstly Colin Hemingway opened his Giants goal scoring account with a short handed marker just 3 minutes into the period. Mark Garside scored with a delightful back hander after 7 minutes to double the lead - a goal he refused to celebrate against his old club. There was no further scoring in the middle frame.
Into the 3rd and with only a 2 goal lead - something the Giants have struggled with this season to date - the next goal seemed crucial. Thankfully for the home side Brett Hemingway popper up and slotted home the 3rd giving the Giants some breathing space. This was not to last long as, 3 minutes later, the Capitals broke Nathan Craze's shut out bid.
As the game drew to a close, Mike Hoffman, who has impressed this year so far, while filling in for the injured Brandon Benedict stepped up once more, scoring twice in the space of 40 seconds to seal a 5-1 win.
On Sunday night, the Giants flew back to Cardiff for their second visit of the season to the blue tent in Cardiff Bay. A strong start with Brett Hemingway and Mike Hoffman both scoring for a second night in a row gave the Giants an early 2 goal lead. The Devils recovered to half this deficit before the end of the first period with a goal from young Brit forward Sam Smith.
With a 2 goal lead once again thrown away, the misery was further compounded early in the 2nd as Jon Pelle and Ryan Finnerty scored within the first 4 minutes to put the Devils 3-2 up.
Moving into the final period only one goal down, the Giants still had a chance to get something on the road, however penalties cost as, with the Devils on the powerplay they extended their advantage to 4-2 with just over 7 minutes to go. Coach Doug Christiansen pulled Stephen Murphy from the net with almost 2 minutes still on the clock in search of some offence and a way back into the game, but Scott Matzka completed the scoring and a 5-2 home team win for the Devils with an empty net goal at 19.02, sending the Giants to their first regular season loss of the year.
Aaron Kernohan
Live Scores
Next Game
Next SeasonLast Game
- 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 |