Giants rally to beat Flames

Photo: John Uwins

Belfast Giants came from a goal down to beat Guildford Flames 5-2 at the Spectrum on Sunday evening.

Guildford started well and generated a good chance inside the opening two minutes. Their pressure paid off at 4:00 when Charlie Curti rimmed the puck around the boards to captain Matt Alvaro, who was in space to fire home a one-timer and give the Flames the lead.

“I think we came out on our toes, ready to play. But while we came out pretty hot, we didn’t maintain that level that we wanted," said Alvaro post-game. "Every time you play Belfast you know it’ll be a tough game. We weren’t consistent enough for 60 minutes, we lost too many puck battles and puck battles.”

Belfast responded quickly. A defensive mistake in the Guildford zone gifted the puck to David Goodwin, who beat Jake Kupsky to level the game at 1-1.

The Giants took control after the first break. Six minutes into the second period, Jordan Kawaguchi found space in the slot on the power play and sent a shot past Kupsky to give Belfast the lead. Moments later, Scott Conway finished neatly to extend the advantage to 3-1.

Guildford pulled one back at 14:00 when Jack Jacome created an odd-man rush and fed Josh Waller to tuck the puck past Jackson Whistle. The Flames pushed hard late in the period, including a scramble around the Giants crease, but could not find the equaliser.

Belfast regained momentum in the third. Jake Gaudet scored with just over seven minutes remaining to restore a two-goal cushion, before Marcus Eriksson added an empty-netter with 2:20 left.

After the win, Mike Lee, who got two assists, said: “For some parts of recent games we’ve got away from how we want to play, but we were pretty good tonight and Jackson Whistle pulled off some excellent saves when we needed. I thought Guildford played pretty well, especially in the first period, but we stuck in there and finished our chances. They had a few chances that, if they’d put them in, would have made it a very different game.”