BELFAST Giants head coach Adam Keefe has described himself as his team's "harshest critic", but his criticism paid off as they completed their Challenge Cup group stage with a perfect record by doubling up the Glasgow Clan over the weekend.
Scott Conway's hat-trick - which took his record to nine goals in six games - helped the Giants to a 3-2 win over their Scottish opponents at the intu Braehead Arena on Friday before returning to the SSE Arena on Saturday for a dominant 5-0 victory in the rematch.
That means the Giants end Group A with six wins from six and they are all but guaranteed top seeding for the knockouts, but in the short-term Keefe will be happier with their first 60-minute display of the domestic campaign, which they produced on Saturday.
Gabe Bast, Ciaran Long and Chad Butcher all struck in the second period to put the hosts out of sight, before the top line did some additional damage in the third period, Mark Cooper and David Goodwin adding some gloss to the scoreline.
Netminder Peyton Jones completed his first shut-out in teal by turning away all 14 shots he faced, and Keefe revealed that a "gentle reminder" was what urged them on to their best performance of the domestic season so far.
"I'm probably our harshest critic. Even the last four or five games I've been pretty hard on these guys for their performances even though we were in the win column, looking for that 60-minute performance, and I think we got that tonight, which was great to see and a great way to end the Challenge Cup group campaign," said the Canadian.
"Despite the win on Friday we weren't happy with some of the analytics of the game and some of the areas we could be better at. One of those areas specifically was our compete levels and energy levels. Basically our work ethic.
"I thought we got that in spades tonight and that set the tone from the drop of the puck. I did give them a gentle reminder that that's what we have to do to have success in this league, you have to compete night in, night out both individually and as a team.
"Colby (McAuley) came back into the line-up and really added some energy, and I'm looking forward to keeping that energy going into Tuesday. I really liked that effort tonight."
After completing their Challenge Cup campaign without a blemish on their book, the Giants now revert back to European matters as they welcome Swedish powerhouses Skellefteå to the SSE Arena tomorrow night for a must-win group game.
The Giants are currently bottom of Group H with two points, but two regulation wins would see them jump up to second and therefore reach the playoffs - though that is easier said and done against a quality Swedish outfit that would be one of the favourites to potentially win the title outright.
But Keefe is quietly optimistic about his side's chances after their performance at the weekend, believing they could use this momentum to set up a potentially historic victory and keep their slim knockout dream alive going into the final group game a week later.
"We're feeling good about ourselves, feeling confident. It was good to see a few guys get on the board tonight, getting the monkey off the back and feeling some swagger. That's a nice thing to see," added the head coach.
"Going into Tuesday night, we know we can't give Skellefteå any easy chances or they will punish us, and I was really happy with our performance in that regard tonight."
