Belfast Giants 5-2 Excel Hull Stingrays
The Belfast Giants tonight convincingly extended the Excel Hull Stingrays losing streak to six games with a comprehensive 5-1 victory in Northern Ireland, thanks to a double from Tim Cook and further goals from Evan Cheverie, Jeff Szwez and Colin Shields.
The Giants were ahead by just one after the first period and the Stingrays briefly came back into the game early in the second as Konstantin Kalmikov levelled the scores. However, defenceman Cook replied less than three minutes later to give the Giants a lead that they refused to give up.
A late consolation goal from Lee Mitchell, after Belfast had extended their lead to four, will have done nothing to raise spirits in Sylvain Cloutier's camp ahead of a rematch against the Giants tomorrow night in Hull. The Stingrays have scored just eight goals in five games and head into tomorrow's game in poor form with a distinct lack of confidence, despite playing at full strength with just Pavel Gomenyuk on the sidelines.
SOG: 36-29
PIM: 10-8
