It was an uncharacteristic double defeat for the Belfast Giants last weekend, however, goalie Jackson Whistle told the Irish News he is confident his side can quickly bounce back.
The Giants will seek to dust themselves down and turn their attention to clashes with Guildford Flames (Saturday, 6pm) and Coventry Blaze (Sunday, 5.30pm) on the road this weekend.
After a solid start to the season, a 6-4 home defeat against Coventry Blaze came somewhat out of the blue for Adam Keefe’s men. The following night, Nottingham Panthers rubbed salt in the wound with an emphatic 5-1 victory at the Motorpoint Arena.
The Giants currently sit in sixth place in the Elite League table, having collected just five points from the same number of games.
Head coach Adam Keefe expressed frustration about the manner of the defeats, with the Giants seemingly taking their foot of the pedal on Saturday evening, throwing away a two goal lead in a roller coaster game against Blaze.
Then, on Sunday, the Giants’ discipline let them down, with late penalties allowing Nottingham to run away with the game despite a spirited effort from the men in teal in the first two periods.
Goalie Jackson Whistle has been reflecting on lessons to be learned from last weekend’s defeat and is clear that the mistakes are eminently fixable.
“The last couple of games didn’t go the way we wanted.” Whistle explains.
“Up until those games, things had been going pretty well so far this season.
“In the Coventry game at home we came out really well, there was a good atmosphere and the guys were feeling great but we took our foot off the gas a little bit. We went up by a couple of goals then got a little lackadaisical.
“It was a few minor mistakes we made in our D zone that ended up in the back of our net. Once we had given them a little bit of life and they believed they could win the game then they kept coming so I think that’s kind of a lesson for us - to not take our foot off the gas.”
“On Sunday I thought we played a really good game and we ran into a bit of penalty trouble at the end of the third period as we were pushing to come back into the game.
“We had just killed off a penalty and then ended up taking two penalties in the same play which put us down to 5 on 3. They scored both times on the power plays which put the game out of reach.
“I think they were quite small errors and things we can change pretty quickly going into this weekend.”
Indeed, Whistle noted that head coach Adam Keefe was understandably not happy with the results, but the 28-year-old Canadian emphasises his side have not been dwelling on any negativity from last weekend.
“Adam Keefe wasn’t too happy with the result but we’ve had a really good week of practice and on a day off we had a team building activity hiking up Cavehill which was great for us as a team.
“Nothing major has changed. We watched a lot of videos focusing on our mistakes and to prepare for the game this weekend. Small things and habits that we need to change, so I am sure things will go a lot better this weekend.
“Resilience is huge because - with how competitive the league is - every game is like a play-off game and every point matters.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the likes of Sheffield or Cardiff or any other team you’re playing, two points is always two points. If you want to be in the hunt come January or February to win the league you have to bounce back right away.
“You can’t really go on losing streaks. If you have two losses in a row you really need to follow it up with a win and get a streak together. We need to have a short term memory from last weekend and focus on being ready to go this weekend.”
The Giants play the Guildford Flames on Saturday night at the Guildford Spectrum Arena and have a chance at redemption the following night in Coventry against the Blaze.
