Late Jacome goal wins it for Flames

Photo: John Uwins

Guildford Flames earned a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over Belfast Giants on Sunday night, thanks to a late powerplay goal that sealed an impressive win at the Spectrum.

The opening period saw end-to-end action with quality chances for both teams, but neither side could find a breakthrough. Both goaltenders were in fine form, with Justin Fazio denying the Giants with a key stop in the closing seconds of the period to keep things level.

Just under two minutes into the second, Belfast broke the deadlock. A scramble in front of the Flames’ net saw JJ Piccinich find a loose puck and slide it across the line to put the visitors ahead.

Guildford hit back midway through the period on the powerplay after Brandon Whistle was called for tripping. A slick passing move from Josh Waller and Jack Jacome set up Matthieu Gosselin, who skated into the slot and fired past Alexis Gravel on the one-timer to level the game.

A tense and tightly contested final period looked destined for overtime until the Flames struck late. Skating on the powerplay, Gosselin carried the puck into the zone and found Jacome, who ripped a perfect shot into the top corner of Gravel’s net for what proved to be the game-winner. The Giants pulled their goalie for the final two minutes but couldn’t find a way past Fazio.

“I’m so proud of our performance tonight,” said Flames goalie Justin Fazio, who stopped 47 of 48 shots. “You could really see the commitment and buy-in from our group. It was amazing to get the job done tonight. You just have to take one shot at a time and focus on the next save. We’ve done such a good job of not giving up crazy scoring chances, so I’m just doing what I can when needed.”