Double-header delight against Steelers puts Belfast Giants on top of the EIHL
The Belfast Giants’ massive four point weekend against the Sheffield Steelers has put them top of the EIHL, one point ahead of the Nottingham Panthers.
Adam Keefe’s team put down to impressive statement against as somewhat chastened Steelers, with a goal ratio of 12 scored by the Giants and just two by Sheffield.
In the opening game of the weekend double-header on Friday, the Giants put five goals past Matt Greenfield, while on the Saturday, they put a further seven goals into the Steelers net, Mitchell Balmas and Evan Jasper were the only Steelers to pinch goals on respective nights.
Speaking after the second game on Saturday Giants head coach Keefe said: “We knew how important this weekend was going to be in our league campaign.
“We wanted to follow up on Friday’s win and prove to ourselves that we could put in two really good performances in the way that we did last weekend too.
“I feel that there was a more complete performance last weekend, but I do think that this weekend's performance was equally as impressive.”
Keefe continued: “I thought that Sheffield were very good, they were very physical in the first period of Friday and they were also very good in the second period on Saturday, they were really pushing to get back into the game.
“While our guys may have bent a little, I think Jackson Whistle played two solid games for us and kept their chances out of the net.
“Then when we got our opportunities tonight our guys took those chances and put the puck in the back of their net.
“Our special teams played great, they all put in good performances from everybody.
“We have been focused on our penalty kill and we performed well against Sheffield this weekend.
“Looking back at yesterday's two big penalty kills at the end of the first period, had we not killed those penalties it could have been a very different game.
“And that also goes for our powerplay which went two for two this weekend and that was against the number one penalty killers in the league.”
Keefe says it was really pleasing to see scoring come right across the lines on the roster.
He said: “Certain guys stepped on different nights which is really nice to see. It keeps everybody happy.
“We don’t care who is the hero on any given night, when it comes down to it this is a team game.
“But its not all about the scoring, tonight we were 6-1 one up and Gabe Bast lays down and blocks a big shot, we also say Carsen blocking a bit shot from the faceoff too.
“Our guys were were consistent and stuck with it. Every time their guys pushed us were pushed right back at them.”
Keefe continued: “We didn’t get too frustrated and take dumb penalties or make a big mistake which could easily have changed the games.
“Ultimately, having done that we got rewarded, but there were some real sacrifices too as a group.”
Keefe says that the Giants are building “true trust and belief”.
He explained: “We are trying to build true trust and belief in each other on this team, that we can be the team that does this. We are making big strides in that right now.
“The guys are taking pride in the details, and if you do take care of the detail and the numbers then you will be sitting in a pretty good spot come the end of the year.”
Keefe says that he is pleased that the Giants are now sitting first in the league. The two wins in the double-header are a really statement of intent for the remainder of the season.
“We are not going to complain about being in first place after tonight’s result.
“It is still just a number at the minute and our goal is to be in first place at the end of the 54 games. There is still a long way to go just yet.
“We are going to enjoy our successes this weekend, they players have earned a break.
“However, there are still 25 games yet to be played in this season and there is still a very long way to go yet.”
Looking ahead to this Wednesday’s game against the Guildford Flame, Keefe said: “But we’re going to ramp it back up again come Tuesday to get ourselves ready for the game against Guildford on Wednesday.
“Guildford are on a bit of a high having beaten 6-2 win against Fife tonight in their building.
“We know that they are a good team and they have already beaten us once in their barn this season, we have to be ready to play come Wednesday right from the start of the first puck drop.”