Belfast Giants beat the Flames but are pipped by Nottingham
Belfast Giants started week 12 in the EIHIL last Friday night win over Guildford Flames in front of a 6,248-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.
In a clash of two teams in the league's top five, it was the Giants who grabbed the opener through Bobo Carpenter. Elijah Barriga was found by Scott Conway. Barriga got his shot off and was well saved by Eamon McAdam. However, he could only bat the puck into the slot, and Carpenter was there to tuck away the rebound and 10.52.
Tom McCollum was forced into action on a couple of occasions to keep the home side ahead.
Both teams pushed for a goal in the middle period, but neither could find one. Guildford couldn't capitalise on back-to-back powerplays as the Giants' special teams stood strong to ensure that they went into the final period with the lead.
7.08 into the third, Daniel Catenacci was called for a Spearing major and ejected from the game after video review. On the resulting powerplay Scott Conway scooped home a rebound from Pierre-Olivier Morin's shot to give the hosts a two-goal lead. The Flames played the final two minutes of the game with six skaters but to no avail and were beaten by the Giants for the second time this season.
Tom McCollum logged his third shutout in five games in the Giants net, he said after the game: “I don't think it's something I'll ever get tired of! I've said before that it's really just a testament about how well the guys in front of me are playing.
“There were a lot of blocks tonight. The guys did a great job. I know the guys took a few that really hurt, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. It's great to see our team really finding a way and playing a complete 60 minutes.”
He added: “Obviously building the points in the standings is huge for us and I think continuing to build game after game of playing the right way for a full 60 minutes is just going to keep giving us more and more confidence and make it easier for our team to find that flow and keep getting better every night.”
The following night it was a late start for the Giants and the Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint after the Giants' travel plans were disrupted by Storm Bert.
The game saw the Panthers end a three-game loss streak with an overtime win over Belfast Giants.
The visitors were heavily delayed on their flight to England, meaning that the game faced off some 80 minutes after the scheduled 7pm start.
The only goal of the opening period went the way of the hosts with Jaakko Niskala finding himself in space at the point and shooting through traffic at 7.34.
The Panthers stayed up by one into the third period until they were pegged back by Scott Conway early in period three. A stick save from Ryan Bednard off an Elijiah Barriga shot fell to Conway to bat the puck out of the air 1.46 into the third to tie the game.
Josh Tetlow's excellent pass found Reid Stefanson in space to beat Tom McCollum and put the Panthers back ahead at 44.49.
However, a Mark Cooper snipe from the wing beat Bednard top shelf at 50.28 to level things once more.
Late in the third, Pierre-Olivier Morin was ejected for a check to the head on Tim Doherty, giving the Panthers a powerplay for the final 21 seconds of regulation and most of overtime.
In the bonus period, the Giants held out for over two minutes until Matt Alfaro made use of the extra space and beat McCollum to win it for the Panthers at 62.23.