Sport

Giants triumph over Sheffield Steelers

A PULSATING encounter at the SSE Arena saw the Belfast Giants storm to a 5-3 win in the first game of their double-header against the Sheffield Steelers to enhance their bid to defend their Elite League title.


Great Britain centre Scott Conway fired a hat-trick to make the difference in the tie, notching a goal in each period, while it was his international team-mates who grabbed the other two goals, Lewis Hook scoring the opening goal and Ben Lake tipping in the winner.


The Steelers had made it nervy as they came from 3-1 down through goals from Danny Kristo, Daniel Ciampini and Marc-Olivier Vallerand, but the Giants managed to hang on and finish things off late on.


Lake being the winner was just rewards for one of the Giants' hardest workers, the GB star missing a glorious chance only a few moments earlier when he missed an empty net tap-in, but he applied the redirect to Josh Roach’s pass for the winner with 4:41 left on the clock.


Even more significantly than getting one over on their rivals, the Giants have moved one point behind the second-placed Steelers ahead of tonight’s rematch at the SSE Arena, while they have also maintained the gap to league leaders the Guildford Flames to six points after they defeated the Glasgow Clan 5-1 last night.


Jackson Whistle produced 25 saves to shut the door at the other end for the Giants with another strong performance from the GB stopper and it presents them with the opportunity to overtake the Steelers in the standings should they pick up the win in game two tonight.


And it's set up to be a blockbuster meeting as well after an ill-tempered finish that saw Gabe Bast and Lake clash with Brandon McNally and Matt Petgrave.


But game one belonged to the Giants and they started strongly as they forged ahead just 7:33 in when Hook picked up the rebound off Roach’s initial shot home and deposited the rebound past Matt Greenfield in the Steelers goal, before Conway got his first to double their lead.


It was the centre himself who drew the holding penalty from Jono Phillips and then was lurking at the doorstep for the rebound off Bast's shot for the powerplay goal at 18:34.


The Steelers got off the mark just 50 seconds into the second period through Kristo as he struck on the powerplay - Will Cullen off for kneeing - but the two-goal lead would be restored only 40 seconds later as Conway once again struck, this time playing the one-two with David Goodwin and supplying the final touch.


But back came the Steelers and by the 46th minute they had the game tied, Ciampini firing one from the point at 26:29 before Vallerand got the powerplay goal after Bast was boxed for holding at 46:00 to tie it up at 3-3.


A dramatic finish would follow, Phillips hitting the post for Sheffield on a breakaway and Lake somehow missing an empty net on the powerplay for the Giants that looked like it could cost them.


But it wouldn't, and it was Lake who supplied the big finish as he tipped in Roach’s pass for the winner and then after the Steelers ran into late penalty trouble, Conway rounded off a superb night as he beat Greenfield for a third time with 22 seconds left on the clock for his treble.


McNally and Petgrave tried to spark something for the Steelers to take into game two tonight, but the Giants were left the ones celebrating at the final buzzer, and they will hope to be doing likewise again after tonight's rematch.