Belfast Giants fail to tame Nottingham Panthers

The Stena Line Belfast Giants fell to their first Elite League defeat in eight games as the Nottingham Panthers scored in overtime on Sunday at the Motorpoint Arena.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Feb 2019, 21:33 BST
Updated 11th Feb 2019, 10:18 BST
Tempers flare in the Panthers versus Giants game last nightTempers flare in the Panthers versus Giants game last night
Tempers flare in the Panthers versus Giants game last night

The Giants still boast a five point weekend following weekend wins on Friday and Saturday over the Guildford Flames in Belfast and maintain their chase for the Elite League title.

Tyler Beskorowany started in the Giants net with the Belfast side missing Jonathan Boxill, Guillaume Gelinas, Pat Dwyer and Andrew Dickson.

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Belfast opened the scoring at 12:12 with Chris Higgins picking out Kendall McFaull, who’s ferocious shot from the blueline crashed into the Nottingham net.It was a fantastic finish from Higgins - who has been in good form recently - and it gave the Giants the perfect start to the game,

Nottingham drew level at 38:16 with Tommy Hughes’ effort deflected past Beskorowany by Alex Guptill.

Dustin Johner struck the first blow in the third period, scoring on the powerplay at 41:17, assisted by David Rutherford and Kyle Baun.

However the Panthers hit back little under three minutes later through Ollie Betteridge, assisted by Alexandre Bolduc at 44:11.

It was a good finish and they were right back in the game.

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It was the hosts who would take the extra point when Brett Perlini was on hand to finish at the back door at 62:21, assisted by Chris Stewart and Kevin Henderson.

Before last night the Giants had a good weekend as they saw off the Guildford Flames 3-2 on Friday night before going even better at the SSE Arena on Saturday night as they beat the same team 7-2 to get themselves a few Elite league points.

The Giants now turn their attention to the Challenge Cup.

Thursday night sees the Giants face the Glasgow Clan in the Semi-Final 2nd Leg on Thursday in Belfast followed by an Elite League clash on Saturday night at The SSE Arena against the same opposition. Sunday’s game face-off 4pm.