We know we can rely on Owen to be a pair of safe hands: Pelech
Meanwhile, Naomh Conaill, the new Donegal champions, are gearing up for what will be their fourth Championship game in a fortnight.
It took three meetings before they managed to get the better of Gaoth Dobhair in the Donegal final second replay on Wednesday night and now they must confront Cavan champions Castlerahan in an Ulster Club quarter-final on Sunday.
Naomh Conaill, who have Donegal county players Ciaran Thompson, Cian Mulligan, Leo McLoone and Anthony Thompson on board, were stretched to the limit by Gaoth Dobhair and it remains to be seen if they will have recovered sufficiently. BELFAST Giants captain Matt Pelech hailed the 34-save performance of netminder Shane Owen in their 4-1 win over the Fife Flyers on Wednesday night.
Owen was exceptional in the victory, making some key saves at crucial moments in the game to inspire the Giants to their fourth straight win, and their second consecutive away success.
One of his best stops, a brilliant reaction save from a tip in front from Flyers forward James Livingston, came just 39 seconds before Pelech himself tipped in a Ciaran Long strike to make it 3-1.
The netminder’s record in domestic play now stands at 6-4-2, and his performance against his former side was a big bounceback display after a couple of rough weekends.
“Owey was unbelievable between the pipes for us, he made some huge saves at the right times,” said Pelech ( below), who notched his fourth goal of the season in the win in Kirkcaldy.
“That’s a road win, that’s a good win, we needed that. The two points go a long way. It was a difficult building to play in, their fans make it tough.
“That’s a good team over there as well, they compete and they work hard.
“But I have to give it to O w e y, he was the player of t h e g a me out there and he stood on his head for us when we needed him.”
As well as moving up to fourth in the Elite League, and maintaining their league-best win percentage of .780, the Giants are clearly improving away from home having started the season poorly on the road.
Having lost their first eight games outside of Belfast, the Giants have now won back-to-back away games — this their first in regulation — while their ability to close out the tie in the third period was a welcome sight for head coach Adam Keefe.
On top of that, the Giants have also started to find the net, scoring 22 goals in their last five games, while maintaining their stingy defensive record in conceding 12 in the same stretch.
It bodes well ahead of a threegame away trip coming up, starting on Sunday at the Coventry Blaze after they welcome the same opponents to the SSE Arena tomorrow night.
“That’s two road wins in a row. I know we’ve been coming up short on the road but we’ve also been playing well, aside from a couple of games,” added Pelech.
“We’re starting to score some goals and that’ ll help us with confidence going forward.”