Goals from Oliver Cooper and Ben Lake have given the Stena Line Belfast Giants a one-goal lead heading to the second leg of their Elite League Playoff Quarter-Final against the Coventry Blaze after a 2-1 win in the first leg at The SSE Arena, Belfast.
The forwards both struck in the second period which, alongside another superb performance from netminder Jackson Whistle as he turned away 23 of the 24 shots he faced, gives Adam Keefe’s side an advantage heading into the second leg away from home on Sunday 14 April.
First period
It was defenceman Cameron Pound who was spearheading the Giants’ initial offensive drives as he powered two passes to the back post for Blake Speers and Greg Printz but neither could direct it in, while at the other end Whistle was called into action for the first time when he needed to steer a Johnny Curran tip wide.
Most of the offensive pressure was coming from the home side, Lake cutting in from behind the net and firing his backhand effort wide, while Mark Cooper baseball-style knocked a rebound from Jacob Friend over the net, but the better saves were coming from Whistle as he produced a fine poke check on Tyler Kirkup just as the Blaze forward was about to strike.
But Coventry netminder Taran Kozun had to come up with a couple of big saves late in the period to keep it scoreless, Bobby MacIntyre cutting into the left circle and firing into the midriff of the goalie, before in the final seconds of the period he threw out the pad to deny David Goodwin’s excellent tip on Lake’s centring pass.
Second period
After a scoreless first period, it took just 19 seconds of the middle frame for the Giants to pull ahead as Printz put it back in front for Oliver Cooper to finish shortside on Kozun (1-0), but a Pound tripping penalty put the Blaze on the powerplay and they tied it up at 24:58 as Mitch Cook was first to a rebound after Whistle couldn’t hold a deflected effort. (1-1)
Another penalty, this time on Lake for elbowing, put the Blaze straight back on the penalty kill but the best chance fell shorthanded to Ara Nazarian but he was denied by Kozun, and when the Giants got their own powerplay for Nathan Ripley’s interference call, Daniel Tedesco banked a shot off the skate of Lake for the go-ahead goal at 31:28 (2-1), with the Blaze managing to see off another interference call on Brady Norrish shortly after.
Whistle was sharp to make three quick stops, all from Kim Tallberg as the Giants managed to see out the rest of the period with no late dramas.
Third period
Some nice early passing gave Tedesco a chance in the right circle that Kozun did well to stop, while Lake and Goodwin nearly connected on a two-on-one chance but an impressive stick blocked the former’s pass to the latter that would have surely resulted in a goal, before Whistle denied J.D. Dudek on the wraparound.
Nazarian had a nice effort from the left face-off dot as time wore down that Kozun blockered away, with Oliver Cooper then driving into the right circle but denied by the netminder also.
But the save of the period belonged to Whistle who managed to stop a tip from Norris right at the end of the game to ensure the Giants will take a one-goal lead into Sunday’s return fixture.
Next up
The Stena Line Belfast Giants head to Coventry for the second leg of their Playoff Quarter-Final on Sunday (5:30pm face-off), with the winners headed to the Elite League Playoff Finals Weekend at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham next weekend.