Adam Keefe’s men secured a dramatic 6-5 overtime victory over the Dundee Stars in Belfast on Saturday night courtesy of a late back-handed finish from new signing Jordan Kawaguchi.
The Giants leave the SSE Arena with two points and another six goals to add to their tally of 17 in three games so far this season, but it’s the other end of the rink that will be causing concern for the men in teal.
The much changed squad has gelled in attack this season, with new signings Jordan Kawaguchi, Bobo Carpenter and Joe Cassetti chipping in alongside Scott Conway and Bobo Carpenter, however the back-and-forth game - which went into overtime on a knife-edge - was too close for comfort.
Defensive issues continue to rear their head, with similar issues on display in the opening game of the season despite an impressive 7-3 scoreline against Dundee in Scotland.
Victory seemed much less certain on Saturday night, with the Stars taking the home side to the wire in the dramatic encounter.
A perfect start for the Giants - a Joe Cassetti strike from a Kawaguchi assist was quickly cancelled out by a quickfire treble for the visitors, with Jake Elmer, Brendan Harms and Kameron Kielly finding the net.
Adam Keefe’s first period team-talk appeared to do the trick, with the hosts hitting back almost immediately in the second period through Scott Conway.
Cole McDonald capitalised on a mistake from the Giants in their own zone to make it four and silence the home fans, but it would not be long before the SSE was rocking again as the Giants drew level with Kawaguchi and Carpenter getting their names on the scoresheet.
Just as it looked like Adam Keefe’s men had completed the perfect comeback in the third period, with JJ Piccinich finding the net from a narrow angle, Brendan Harms pulled one back for the visitors to send the game into overtime.
Kawaguchi salvaged the two points for his side in overtime with a slick back-handed finish, leaving Giants fans relieved but with a question mark over the side’s defence in a performance that could be described as a ‘mixed bag’.
On balance, the Giants had more shots, more shots on target and more expected goals but the fact that Dundee had the hosts up against the ropes for almost half the game tells its own story. On another night or against better opposition, the Giants may not have salvaged the points which could prove costly in a highly competitive league season.
Reflecting on the performance, head coach Adam Keefe was clear that, despite the attack clicking, there was still a lot of work to do over the coming weeks in avoiding goals leaking in at the other end.
“Offensively, I thought we were great tonight,” Keefe explained.
“I liked the composure when we had gone down to come back into that game and we have that type of offence which can do that.
“The guys learned to believe they can get back into a game. We don’t want to be put into that situation too often, but certainly there is work to do defensively. It’s not sustainable, it’s not how champions play.
“It’s still very early and we are trying to get it under control. Hopefully we can do that sooner rather than later. It’s unfortunate that we don’t get to go again tomorrow, but thankfully we have a long week ahead of practice to try to get better defensively and if we do that we’re in a really good place.
“The guys proved they are capable of coming back in a game like that and there were some really big plays and there was a big finish from (Jordan) Kawaguchi in overtime to get us those two points that are massive.”
The Giants have a long week of training ahead before they face Dundee once again on away ice on Sunday evening followed by Manchester Storm the following week.