HIGHLIGHTS: Giants 5-3 Clan
Watch the best bits from the Stena Line Belfast Giants 5-3 over Braehead Clan in Belfast on Friday.
The Stena Line Belfast Giants defeated the Braehead Clan 5-3 in Belfast on Friday to close in on the first placed Cardiff Devils.
Goals from Rutherford, Shields, Desmarais and Foster (x2) saw the home side return to winning ways. The Giants sit in second place, four points behind the League leaders after both sides playing 28 games.
Stephen Murphy started in the Giants net with Brandon Benedict the scratch for the home side in this Elite League game.
The Braehead Clan got off to the best possible start, scoring after only 20 seconds when Daniel Ahsberg deflected Lee Baldwin’s shot high into the Giants net.
Soon after, the home side were back on level terms as David Rutherford scored, assisted by Alex Foster at 3:21, following a mix up in the Clan’s defence that saw the Giants presented with an empty net.
Belfast took the lead at 12:59 when David Rutherford set up Colin Shields with a classy no-look pass from behind the net. However the first period ended level at 2-2 when Craig Peacock scored, assisted by Ahsberg and Pitt at 18:35.
James Desmarais gave the Giants a lead once again when Steve Saviano won the puck back after a face-off in the Clan zone and fed the puck to Desmarais at 21:20.
Alex Foster extended the Giants lead to 4-2 at 24:50, assisted by Mark Garside and Colin Shields before Alex Leavitt pulled one back for the visitors at 30:17 with a cool finish, assisted by Carlson and Hammond.
Alex Foster scored his second of the night when he was the first to react to the rebound from Jim Vandermeer’s shot and give the Giants a 5-3 lead at 34:52.
The Giants outshot their opponents 13-8 in the third period with Stephen Murphy standing tall in the Giants goal throughout the final 20 minutes to keep the Clan at bay and earn a much deserved win for the home side.
Next up for the Giants is three home games in-a-row starting on Monday 2nd January against the Coventry Blaze, face-off 4pm before a ‘double header’ in Belfast against the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday 7th (7pm) and Sunday 8th January (4pm).
Tickets for those games are now on sale from The SSE Arena Box Office in person, by calling 028 9073 9074 and online from Ticketmaster.
Final Score Stena Line Belfast Giants 5-3 Braehead Clan
Giants Man of the Match #23 Alex Foster