Giants’ terrific form continues with six more points on board

THE Belfast Giants’ hot streak continued as they made it a sixpoint weekend with a 6-3 win over the Dundee Stars in their final game of three in Scotland.

That’s now 13 wins in the last 14 for the league-leading Giants, and six of their first seven on their 16-game road trip, as Adam Keefe’s side maintained their four-point advantage at the top of the Elite League table with the victory.

It looked like a third game in three days might have an adverse affect on the Giants as netminder Tyler Beskorowany was the busier of the two goalies early on, but it was Dundee’s Pontus Sjogren who was beaten first, David Rutherford with a deft touch on the puck from Mark Garside’s blueline shot that beat the goalie five hole at 10:50.

That became two when it looked like Belfast had squandered an odd man rush as the puck went loose, however Lewis Hook tidied up, beat his man with a nice drag and then roofed a snapshot over Sjogren’s glove side at 17:43.

It took 51 seconds of the second period for Hook to grab his second, and the Giants’ third, when he finished in the slot after a battle for the puck behind the goal. However, Dundee finally got off the mark 10 seconds later when Charles Corcoran beat Beskorowany from the left circle.

The Stars began to apply the pressure, and they should have at least scored once more as Lukas Lundvald, Brian Hart and Johan Andersson all had chances, and they were made to pay by a quick Belfast double salvo.

The first came at 28:19, Dustin Johner poking the puck home in the slot, before Blair Riley notched his fifth goal of the weekend at 28:51 with a lovely finish on a two-on-one.

Dundee found a morale lifter six seconds before the end of the period though, Jordan Cownie firing past Beskorowany from the edge of the left circle.

A tame start to the third period finally exploded into life when Matt Marquardt rattled the iron for the Stars, and then Kris Inglis dropped the gloves with Paul Swindlehurst after the former took exception to a big hit from the Belfast man.

That seemed to invigorate Dundee, and Shawn Boutin made it interesting at 56:51 when his shot from the right circle found the twine, however Kyle Baun’s (above) empty netter on the final buzzer wrapped up the two points for Belfast.