Champions Hockey League: Ocelari Trinec beat Belfast Giants 4-0 in opener
- Published
The Giants will host Swiss outfit HC Davos in Belfast on Sunday
The Belfast Giants fell to a 4-0 defeat by Ocelari Trinec in their Champions Hockey League opener in the Czech Republic.
The Giants matched the Czech champions for much of the game but came unstuck with two third period goals.
Daniel Vozenile, Marko Dano, Petr Vrana and Jan Zahradnicek found the net for the hosts as they began their CHL campaign with a deserved win.
The Giants return home to host HC Davos on Sunday at the SSE Arena.
In just their second appearance in European hockey's elite competition, the visitors went toe-to-toe with Trinec for long periods despite a high penalty county that provided the hosts with five powerplays to the Giants' two.
However the Czech side could not convert during any periods of numerical advantage, instead hitting the front with just over a minute of the opening period to go when Daniel Vozenilek bundled home from close range.
Trinec netminder Marek Mazanec made a string of good saves to keep the visitors at bay, thwarting both Mark Cooper and the lively Ciaran Long.
Adam Keefe's Elite League champions are seeking to become just the second side from the competition to reach the knockout stage of the CHL, which would require a top-two finish in Group H.
While they return from the Czech Republic with no points to show for their efforts, they will take confidence into Sunday's game having controlled the first half of the third period.
The Giants thought they had equalised and indeed saw a goal awarded when Mazanec deflected Colby McAuley's behind him, only for replays to show the puck had not crossed the line leading to the decision being overturned.
Scott Conway believed he should have had a penalty that would have reduced Trinec to just three players, but the officials did not agree. Minutes later Dano found the back of the net as a shorthanded Trinec extended their lead.
Any hopes of a Giants revival were then ended by Vrana who applied the finished touch after Libor Hudacek ripped through the visiting defence.
Having pulled their netminder in search of an unlikely revival, the Giants left their goal untended with Zahradnicek taking advantage as his wonderful effort travelled the length of the ice to complete the scoring.