Belfast Giants were brought back down to earth after the Champions Hockey League with an almighty bump, as Dundee Stars left the SSE Arena with a 7-4 victory in opening night.
The Giants opened the scoring with their first opportunity on the powerplay: Mike Lee found JJ Piccinich in the slot, who rifled the puck into the roof of the net at 5:07.
Dundee equalised three minutes later, also on the powerplay. Yamamoto pulled the puck back to Kameron Kielly, who had plenty of time to pick his spot and fire past Alexis Gravel at 8:08.
The Stars put Belfast under pressure after the equaliser and, although they couldn’t capitalise on their second powerplay, they still managed to take the lead with six seconds left in the first period. Ben Almquist picked out Matt Berry, positioned just outside the crease, and Berry managed to sneak the puck through Gravel’s five-hole to give the Stars the advantage.
“I thought our team played good. We came out hard and we got a lead and we just kept building of that. I thought we played a really good game, other than the powerplay I thought we played a really good 5-on-5 game.,” said Berry who joined the Stars from Glasgow in the summer.
“it’s huge for us coming in here and winning. Belfast are one of the best teams every season pretty much so it’s big for our group to come in here and get a big win on the road.”
The Giants started the second period well, grabbing an equaliser on the powerplay. Piccinich set up Nicolas Guay, who struck a one-timer past Jarrett Fiske at 26:42.
However, Belfast were level for less than a minute before being caught short in defence. Hampus Olsson found Berry, who finished well past Gravel to restore Dundee’s lead at 27:30.
Belfast had another chance to equalise on the powerplay, but it was Dundee who struck shorthanded. Gravel came out to clear the puck, but his clearance was intercepted by Bradley Schoonbaert, who fed Jackson Desouza to score into an empty net and give the Stars a two-goal cushion at 32:56. That prompted the Giants to call a timeout and change goaltenders, with Jackson Whistle replacing Gravel.
The hosts managed to get one back, again on the powerplay, when Jake Gaudet got a touch on Mike Lee’s shot to beat Fiske at 37:20.
Ben Almquist’s goal 5:10 into the third period put the Stars back up by two, and although the Giants cut the deficit to one with 10 minutes to play through another Gaudet strike, Dundee were not to be denied. Matt Boudens made it 6–4 at 52:49 before Justin Bean rounded off the scoring with just over five minutes remaining.
Concluded Berry: “It seemed like tonight our team was really resilient. Anytime they found a goal we answered back right away. I think one was the next shift and another one was just a couple of shifts later we took another two-goal lead. It’s huge, playing with a two-goal lead is a lot better than one and our team kept finding a way to find the back of the net tonight so that was good.”
Photo: William Cherry
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