The Belfast Giants have moved another step closer to the top of the Elite league after securing two wins over Nottingham Panthers in this weekend’s home double-header.
Adam Keefe’s men now sit in second place in the standings, three points behind league leaders Cardiff Devils but with two games in hand.
The Giants secured a 2-0 win on Friday evening before making it a full four-point weekend with a 4-2 win at a sold-out SSE Arena on Saturday evening.
The win will provide a confidence boost for the men in teal after an uncharacteristic stumble last weekend in which they lost against the Sheffield Steelers and Coventry Blaze.
While Friday night’s game was not the Giant’s best performance by any measure, they picked up the all important two league points.
Adam Keefe and his coaching staff will be reassured by their defensive solidity with goalie Jackson Whistle deserving many of the plaudits for shutting out the Panthers.
The Great Britain netminder secured his third shutout of the season as Baum fired home late in the first period and Piccinich sealed it with a late empty netter to get the Giants back in the win column on home ice.
An incisive finish from Jeff Baum towards the end of the first period was the difference between the sides for the majority of the game.
Although there were opportunities for both sides, it was the goalies - Jason Grande and Jackson Whistle - who kept the game low-scoring.
Whistle turned away a total of 27 shots including a string of great saves in the third period following breakaway chances from the visitors.
The hosts sealed the game with a late empty netter scored by JJ Piccinich, securing the points despite an unconvincing performance.
The following night demonstrated a return to form for Keefe’s men, with an improved performance resulting in a win by the same margin.
The Giants started the game with intent, scoring in the first period through Pierre-Olivier Morin who found the roof of the net from a Kyle Osterberg assist.
The visitors then hit back with a quickfire double on the powerplay to take the lead.
Bobo Carpenter drew the sides level with a well-taken finish just after the half-hour mark and neither team could capitalise on the powerplay as the sides went into the second interval 2-2.
Ciaran Long put the hosts ahead in the third period for what would prove to be the game-winner before Scott Conway added the icing to the cake with an empty netter in the dying moments of the game.
Speaking after the game, Adam Keefe observed the significant improvement in Saturday night’s performance.
“I thought tonight was a complete game from our guys,” Keefe said.
“It was exactly what we asked for. Obviously, we were happy with the result last night but not the way we got it.
“We didn’t give Nottingham very much at all tonight but they got on the board through powerplays.
“We were good the whole game and we got rewarded with the Ciaran Long breakaway in the third and we managed the rest of the game and battled to get the result.”
As the Giants seek to leapfrog Cardiff at the top of the table, they will now turn their attention towards clashes with Sheffield Steelers and Manchester Storm next weekend.
