Belfast Giants 8-6 Excel Hull Stingrays
An astonishing five goal and seven point night from the Belfast Giants Paul Deniset was enough to condemn the Excel Hull Stingrays to a two goal defeat in a goal fest at the Odyssey Arena in Northern Ireland.
The Stingrays found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-2 scoreline going into the third period, thanks to four goals from Deniset, with the Rays lone markers coming in each of the previous two periods from Ukrainians Pavel Gomenyuk and Konstantin Kalmikov.
The three goal deficit came about despite the Stingrays firing 26 shots on Belfast backup Nathan Craze in the first two periods and the Rays, clearly benefiting from some lax Giants defending and a gung-ho approach in the third period, ended the game with an unprecedented 47 shots on goal.
Deniset netted his fifth, and thankfully final, goal early in the third period which looked to have finished the Stingrays off with the scoreline at 6-2.
Cue the sort of comeback which has become a familiar characteristic of this season's side.
Jeff Glowa and a double from Slava Koulikov helped the Rays fight back to within a goal before the Giants Andrew Martin yet again extended that lead back to three just 11 seconds later.
The Stingrays brought the scores back to within one again as Konstantin Kalmikov scored his second of the game, and twentieth of the season, however an empty net goal from George Awada, after the Rays had pulled Cruickshank in search of an equaliser, sealed an offensive showing from both sides and an 8-6 victory for Belfast.
SOG: 32-47
PIM: 17-15
