The Belfast Giants come away from a challenging weekend double-header against the Glasgow Clan with a penalty shootout win on home ice and a loss on the road.
Adam Keefe’s side suffered their first loss of the season in regular time on Saturday night, with the Scottish side coming from behind to claim a 3-1 victory at the Braehead Arena.
The following night in Belfast the men in teal scraped past the Clan in a penalty shootout after a dramatic quickfire double from Glasgow - who were 3-1 down in the final minute - leveled the scores with seconds remaining.
Grant Mismash, Pierre-Olivier Morin and Ben Lake all scored in the shootout and Jackson Whistle turned away all three shots from the Clan to give Adam Keefe’s men the win and a vital point.
With the Giants carrying good form into the weekend, their early season momentum was not enough to get the better of Glasgow who made life difficult for the Belfast side.
On Saturday night, the Giants gave away their early lead through Mark Cooper, with the Clan battling back in the second period to equalise and then seal a convincing win with two further goals in the third period.
The game started with a flurry of activity and Giant’s former NHL goalie, Tom McCollum, was called into action early with a double save. However, it was the Giants who would take an early lead, with Cooper striking a backhand shot into the net with less than a minute played.
Despite a heroic effort from goalie McCollum, Clan’s Deven Sideroff slotted a rebound in the second period to level the sides.
The momentum swung in the direction of the Clan and the pressure was eventually too much for the Giants, with Michael Pelech in the right place at the right time to score another rebound.
Adam Keefe pulled McCollum for an extra skater in an attempt to find an equaliser, but Sideroff capped off the win with an empty-netter to make it 3-1.
Speaking after the game, head coach Adam Keefe conceded his side had been outplayed.
“We were second best.” Keefe reflected after the final buzzer.
“Credit to Glasgow - they’ve been playing really well. They were very good tonight and we were second best in pretty much every field out there tonight.
“Tom (McCollum) did his job tonight and gave us a chance to find a second goal to get us back in the game but we weren’t really generating too much.”
Sunday’s game was much more back-and-forth, with added drama as the game went into overtime and a shootout.
It was Glasgow who got off to a better start, with Deven Sideroff putting his side ahead after four minutes but his effort was canceled out by Mike Lee, who smashed a one-timer past Landon Bow to level the scores.
It would take until the third period for the next goal, with Grant Mishmash striking on the powerplay thanks to a Jordan Kawaguchi assist. Mishmash doubled his side’s advantage minutes later, rifling a shot into the top corner to make it 3-1.
With only one minute remaining and Glasgow playing shorthanded - after Mitchell Heard was ejected for roughing - Sideroff struck again to bring his side within touching distance.
Almost unbelievably, only 14 seconds later Sideroff struck again to level the game with thirty seconds remaining on the clock.
Following overtime, a shootout was needed to separate the sides and the Giants were accurate with three attempts while Jackson Whistle blocked all three of Glasgow’s shots to give his side the win.
Keefe’s side leave with a point and plenty to work on as they look ahead to games against Coventry Blaze in Belfast and Nottingham Panthers on the road next weekend.
