Elite League: Belfast Giants hit five on return to action

The Belfast Giants celebrated their return to action with a 5-1 victory over Glasgow Clan at the SSE Arena in the Elite League.

After a Covid-enforced break of more than two weeks, Tyler Soy and JJ Piccinich fired the Giants into a two-goal lead in the first period.

Soy and Slater Doggett made it four midway through the second period.

Mitch Jones pulled one back for Glasgow before Doggett made it five late on to complete the win.

The Giants had been in the Elite League's Covid-19 protocols forcing the postponement of their last three scheduled games but despite the break, from the drop of the puck they looked ready to go.

Soy nabbed the opening goal at 8:17 with the deflection from Ciaran Long's shot and the advantage was doubled on the powerplay when David Goodwin's perfect pass picked out Piccinich in front of the net as the Giants out-shot their opponents by 23-8.

It was with the man advantage that the Giants took a 3-0 lead early in the second period when Soy was on the doorstep to knock home a rebound when Clan goalie Shane Starrett failed to control the puck after stopping Cam Knight's initial shot.

The Giants fourth goal came from a loose puck retrieval by Ben Lake deep in the Clan zone and his pass was thumped into the back of the net on the one-timer from Doggett.

It was a sloppy start to the final period for the home side and they were punished by the Clan powerplay when Jones scored, however the Giants would have the final say when Doggett slipped the puck under Starrett to round off the scoring.

The return game with Glasgow scheduled for Monday evening was postponed following the new restrictions brought in by the Scottish government after Christmas restricting crowds at indoor venues to just 200 spectators

The Giants' visit to the Guildford Flames on Wednesday is still scheduled to proceed, as is the New Year's Eve matinee at the SSE Arena against Dundee with the face-off at 16:00 GMT.