With the league season now in full flow, the Belfast Giants face another big challenge this weekend against Coventry Blaze in Belfast on Saturday evening before facing Nottingham Panthers on the road the following night.
Adam Keefe’s side have only lost twice this season, including a defeat against Glasgow Clan last weekend followed by a dramatic shootout win over the Scottish side on Sunday in a double header.
The Belfast side have looked impressive at times this season, stringing together several impressive performances including a 7-0 hammering of Fife last Wednesday evening.
However, following a 3-1 away loss in Glasgow, concerns were raised over a late brain-fade from Keefe’s men on Sunday evening which saw the Giants lose their two goal lead in the dying moments of the game, forcing the game into overtime and a shootout.
Grant Mismash - who struck twice in the game and scored the winning shootout goal - spoke to the Irish News as he reflected on lessons to be learnt from last weekend and looked ahead to clashes with Coventry Blaze and Nottingham Panthers this weekend.
“Glasgow are obviously a great team and we knew that they were going to be very physical against us,” Mismash explained.
“They wore us down a little bit in our D-zone and took advantage of some of the penalties. Obviously, we struggled to score which was frustrating.
“The second game we played a lot better. We matched their physicality and kept it simple. However, we took our foot off the gas in the closing stages and let them back into the game.
“We just turned our brains off and probably took it for granted that we thought we were going to win. We can’t let that happen again and we are doing our best to put our mistakes in the past, dial-in on the details in training and focus on how we can do better in the future.
“Overall, apart from the late errors, I think we played pretty well and there are a lot of positives to take from that game. We just need to stay switched on for the full 60 minutes.”
The 25-year-old American winger was integral to his side getting two points and has been on a hot run of form recently as demonstrated by his superb individual performance against Glasgow.
After a slow start to the season due to injury, the winger has now scored four goals in his last three games and is now hungry for more.
“I have been focused on getting more shots away and taking chances when they’re presented to me,” Mismash says.
“The first two periods were nothing special for me, but I tried to hang in there and stick with the process.
“Coach Keefe has told me to be a bit more selfish in those areas which comes down to confidence as I am trying to avoid over-passing.
“I have a great shot so it was just a case of putting my head down and ripping the puck. It was a good feeling when they went in.”
As for this weekend, the Giants meet Coventry Blaze who carry momentum over to Belfast following a 6-0 hammering of Glasgow earlier this week.
They also face Nottingham Panthers who have a strong record at home this season and is a notoriously difficult arena to travel to.
Mismash is in no doubt the Giants will have their work cut out once again this weekend.
“We know that Coventry are on a roll right now.” Mismash says.
“Blaze have just beaten Glasgow and Nottingham just beat Cardiff.
“It will be a tough test. We’re expecting a good crowd at home which always helps, but Nottingham is a really tough place to go to.
“Of course, we’ll be looking at how other teams have been playing but the primary focus will be on ourselves and playing the brand of ice hockey we want to play - the Belfast Giants way. If we do this then I predict we will have good outcomes.”
