Belfast Giants 5 Hull Stingrays 3

Giants picked up their first win of the new season by taking the points against a Stingrays side who trailed 5-1 early in the third period before staging a fightback that ultimately fell short.

Five different scorers for the home side who outshot their opponents heavily by 41 to 18.

Early scoring in this one with Brock McBride firing Giants ahead after only 3.31 and Dominic Osman tying it up with Stingrays first at 5.41 on the powerplay. The score stayed that way until Giants pressure paid off at 17.32 with Robert Dowd counting on the powerplay.

The second period saw Giants take control, adding two more goals to lead 4-1. Craig Peacock after only 1.52 of the session made it 3-1 and then at 34.11 Jeff Mason was on hand to add the fourth, shortly before Giants Adam Keefe and Stingrays Martin Ondrej were binned on fighting majors.

Giants put the game to bed it seemed when Benoit Doucet extended their advantage to 5-1 at 42.32 but Stingrays got one back quickly with Jereme Tendler hitting the net at 43.39. Skipper Josh Mizerek then pulled the visitors to within two at 47.25 but that’s as close as they got and Giants held on comfortably for both points.

Period Scores: 2-1, 2-0, 1-2
Penalty Mins: Bel 13 – Hul 25
Powerplay: Bel 1/5 Hul 1/4
Shots On: Stephen Murphy 18 – Christian Boucher 40

Referee: Neil Wilson