28th/29th November Weekend Preview

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Saturday 27th November: Belfast Giants (3rd) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Odysessy Arena, F/O 7pm
Sunday 28th November: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Belfast Giants (3rd) @ Hull Arena, F/O 6pm

Form
Stingrays: L L L L L
Belfast: W L L W W

Last 3 Meetings
v Belfast
08/09/09 2-3 L H
23/09/09 4-0 L A
18/10/09 2-8 L H

Season Series
v Belfast: 0-3, 4 GF, 15 GA

Players to Watch
Stingrays: James Sanford (14 GP 1+8 43 PIM) Sanford has had a turbulent start to his career with the Stingrays. Despite notching up assist after assist in his first few games in the country, truly living up to his name as a quarterback on the powerplay, his defensive performances were called into question. However, in the past six games the Canadian has failed to add any assists and yet his performances on the blueline have picked up. Read into that what you will, but he scored his first goal as a Stingray last weekend in the loss to Cardiff and his encouraging recent performances will be key to him keeping a job once Pavel Gomenyuk fully returns to fitness.

Belfast: Jeff Szwez (11 GP 12+5 71 PIM) What does Jeff Szwez bring to the Belfast Giants? Goals? Check, 12 in 11 games since joining puts the Canadian in 11th place on the Elite League goalscorers list, having played half the number of games many of his colleagues have. Entertainment? Check, 71 penalty minutes, three fights and plenty of goals in just 11 games. A chance of a league title? Check, the Giants form has noticeably picked up since Szwez was signed following a year in the American Hockey League and their charge up the league sees them joint top with Nottingham and Coventry. Szwez may well be that league MVP type that could light up the league and push the Northern Irish side all the way.

Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Tommy Sandahl (23 GP 89.4 sv.% 4.27 GAA)
Belfast: Stephen Murphy (17 GP 93.3 sv.% 2.06 GAA)

Absentees
Stingrays: Pavel Gomenyuk (rib)
Belfast: George Awada (shoulder), Pierre-Luc Faubert (broken ankle), Mark Morrison (seperated shoulder)

Predictions
Belfast 5-2 Stingrays
Stingrays 1-4 Belfast