Elite League: Belfast Giants top of standings after securing 5-1 win over Guildford Flames
- Published
Ben Lake is congratulated by his Giants team-mates after scoring their second goal in the first period
The Belfast Giants are top of the Elite League after they completed a weekend double over the Guildford Flames at the SSE Arena with Saturday's 5-1 victory.
That win, allied to Dundee's shootout success at Sheffield, sees the Giants lead by a single point at the top of the standings with 14 games remaining.
Five of those matches will be between the two title contenders.
Ben Lake scored twice for the Giants, with JJ Piccinich, Mark Cooper and Tyler Soy also on target in Belfast.
The two sides will now travel to Guildford for the finale of their three-game series on Sunday.
For a fourth period in a row the Giants scored a pair of goals but they had to survive a shaky opening to the game.
After a poor performance in Friday's 6-2 defeat Guildford were expected to respond and they did with a much better push but they failed to capitalise on an early powerplay or a number of uncharacteristic defensive zone giveaways from the Giants and the home side had netminder Jackson Whistle to thank for keeping the game scoreless.
His saves paved the way for the Giants to open the scoring on their first opportunity with the man advantage when David Goodwin's back door pass found Piccinich and his one-time sneaked in as Flames goalie Liam Hughes failed to hold his pad against the post.
The second goal was beautifully worked by the Giants as Slater Doggett took a sweet pass from Jeff Baum and then found Lake steaming down the slot. He controlled the puck with his skate before firing home.
Giants extend their lead
The Giants' third goal arrived early in the second period when Doggett threw the puck into a crowd of players in front of the Flames net and after ricocheting around it fell to Cooper who banged it past Hughes.
The visitors missed a chance to get back into the game as they failed to convert on a 5-on-3 advantage but with under two minutes left they did make a powerplay count when Jamal Watson's shot from the right point beat Whistle.
The Giants needed a little insurance and they got it five minutes into the final period and once again on the powerplay when Lake scored his second of the game.
With Guildford pressing Jordan Boucher and Soy played an odd man rush perfectly with Soy getting the tap-in.
It was another comfortable win for Adam Keefe's side who will look for a sweep of the three games on Sunday before focusing in on the home double-header with the Sheffield Steelers starting on Friday night in what promises to be the first instalment of a thrilling fight to the finish line.