Two wins on the road for the Belfast Giants at a pivotal time in the season provided much needed momentum for Adam Keefe’s side in the run up to Christmas.
An overtime 4-3 win over league leaders Cardiff Devils on Saturday, followed by a comprehensive 6-1 win over Coventry Blaze the following night sees the Giants move up to fourth place in the Elite League standings.
With the side searching for form in their league campaign, Adam Keefe and his staff will be hopeful the winning weekend will spark a run of consistent performances similar to that which saw them finish as overall top seeds in the Challenge Cup competition.
Saturday night saw the Giants travel to the Vindico Arena to face Cardiff Devils who sit at the top of the league.
It wasn’t completely straightforward for Keefe’s men, who let their 3-1 lead slip before inflicting the Devils’ fourth defeat of the season in overtime.
A fast paced start saw early chances for both teams, but it was a Josh Roach slapshot past goalie Ben Bowns that got the visitors on the board.
A period of sustained pressure and the Giants were finally able to capitalise, with Jordan Kawaguchi tipping in his side’s second goal just before the first interval.
The second period saw Cardiff reduce the deficit, with Joey Martin hitting back for the hosts on the powerplay.
The men in teal restored their two-goal advantage just after the half hour mark, with Cameron Pound firing a shot from distance which somehow found its way under the glove of Bowns.
The final period saw the hosts fight back and the Giants appeared to take their foot off the pedal as they conceded a quickfire double from Kohen Olifschefski and Cole Sanford to tie the game.
With nothing to separate the sides after 60 minutes, the game went into overtime which the Giants dominated and Pierre-Olivier Morin fired in the crucial winner after 63 minutes, much to the delight of the travelling fans.
Speaking after the game, Adam Keefe spoke of his relief at having taken away the points after a back-and-forth game.
“That was a bit chaotic wasn’t it? I thought Cardiff came out really well and then we got one against the run of play to kind of calm our game down.” Keefe said.
“I thought it was kind of a back and forth game there. They put us under some pressure and we had some good looks ourselves. If either side had taken their chances, they could have got the job done in regulation.
“For us, it was a clutch penalty kill and a very big save from Jackson (Whistle) to give us that chance to get the job done in overtime. We handled the puck well and it was nice to see PO (Pierre-Olivier Morin) get the job done in the end.”
On Sunday night the Giants faced another tricky test against a Coventry side who went into the weekend in second place in the standings.
Despite a slow start, the game turned into the convincing 6-1 win for the visitors and performance from a Giants side who demonstrated their title winning credentials.
A nervy start from both sides in the first period and no goals was followed by two quick goals for the Giants in the second period, with Bobo Carpenter rifling a shot into the top corner followed by another strike from Ciaran Long minutes later to double the Giants’ lead.
Karl Boudrias added the third with a shot from long range before Coventry pulled one back to make the score 3-1 at the end of the second period.
The Giants’ dominance continued in the third period, with captain Mark Cooper finishing well from Elijah Barriga’s assist and Gabe Bast made it five with a perfectly placed shot from the right circle.
Scott Conway rubbed salt in the wound for Coventry, making it six in the dying moments as the Giants sealed an impressive win on the road.
The Giants will hope to continue their winning form in their packed league schedule in the build-up to Christmas with home games against Dundee on Wednesday evening followed by clashes with Sheffield Steelers and Coventry next weekend.
