Belfast Giants are focusing on the run into playoffs says forward Kohei Sato

Every point is important with the playoffs rapidly approaching at the end of the season.

Last weekend’s hat-trick hero at the SSE, Japanese forward, Kohei Sato admits that last weekend’s games were a mixed bag for the Giants.

He said: “I think we all played well in the two games against Fife and Nottingham. We were fortunate to secure quite a big scoreline win against Fife at the SSE.

"It is great to see the guys getting rewarded for their hard work.”

Big wins like the one against Fife are always a great boost for the morale and Sato attributed much of his offensive success to his line-mates.

“I was very fortunate to get to play with Bobby and Speers in that game,” he said. “They did a tremendous job putting the puck on my tape and I was able to provide the finish.

“I have to credit my line-mates for my goals, had they not created those opportunities for me in front of goal I probably wouldn't have scored.

“There is definitely chemistry between myself and my line-mates, and you saw that against Fife and in Nottingham too. I thought the line played well on Sunday against the Panthers despite the loss.

“We will be looking to keep that chemistry and build on it in the games ahead of us. We have to the right things and hopefully chances will fall our way.”

Sato admits that while it was disappointing not to come away with a win against the Panthers there were a number of positives to take from the game, not least the Giants’ fightback.

“It was just one of those nights in Nottingham,”he said. “Their goalie played very well and kept our shots out of the back of the net.

“Honestly, I feel that we out-played the Panthers, they got a few goals on us early in the game and we had to fight our way back into the game.

“It was great to see that our team didn’t give up that game,”

The Giants’ clash tonight with Coventry Blaze has a faceoff time of 7pm with the second encounter tomorrow at the same time.