Shutout win puts Giants 8 points clear of Steelers

Photo: Dean Woolley

Belfast Giants moved eight six clear at the top of the Elite Ice Hockey League with a 4-0 shutout win over the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday night in Sheffield.

It was night one of the Retro Weekend double header as the Steelers hosted the league-leading Giants.

“We feel great, the guys played so well in front of me, getting four goals was good and I thought we were awesome tonight,” said Giants’ Jake Kupsky, who posted a shutout. “Everyone was really clean in front of me which made my job really easy. It builds more confidence for the rest of the games to come.”

The Steelers started brightly and had the better of the opening ten minutes, with chances for Balmas and Jasper, but they could not find a way past Giants netminder Jake Kupsky. Belfast opened the scoring with just under nine minutes remaining in the first period. Smart puck movement from Lee at the point found Nicolas Guay down low, who fed Jordan Kawaguchi in the slot to poke the puck home and give the visitors the lead.

“That’s obviously not what we set out to do tonight, but we have a chance to get those two points back tomorrow,” said Steelers’ Ivan Bjorkly-Nordstrom. “I love this club,” concluded Bjorkly-Nordstrom, “and our capability to do that.”

The Giants doubled their advantage just over two minutes into the second period when Carsen Twarynski poked home Brandon Whistle's centring pass. Belfast added a third at 31:56 after strong work from Ciaran Long forced a turnover in the Steelers zone off Stephen Harper, allowing Ben Freeman to go clear in space and he finished with a snap shot off the post past Matt Greenfield for his first goal as a Giant at 31:56.

Guay added the fourth 8:11 into the final period to seal the win as Belfast controlled the remainder of the game.

“It’s great to get a shutout, but that stat is more a testament to the guys in front of me,” added Kupsky, who stopped 24 shots. “I had a bit of puck luck with some shots that hit the crossbar and went out of play, but it’s always awesome to get a shutout.”

Bjorkly-Nordstrom was named player of the game for the Steelers. “I thought I played pretty well, I was moving well considering I played last night but there were parts of the game that need to be more consistent,” added Bjorkly-Nordstrom. “But getting man of the match doesn’t really matter when you lose.

“I love being in the rink every day and competing for my spot, and trying to win trophies with both teams. I love this club.”