'Great' offence sees Giants win 11-goal thriller
Jordan Kawaguchi seals overtime win for Giants in 11-goal Challenge Cup thriller
- Published
The Belfast Giants opened up their 25th anniversary season at home with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win over the Dundee Stars.
Paris Olympic pommel horse champion Rhys McClenaghan dropped the ceremonial puck before face-off and was given a standing ovation by the crowd of over 6,000.
As too was bronze medal winning rower Philip Doyle when he presented the man of the match award to one of the Giants new signings, Jordan Kawaguchi, who scored the sudden death game-winning goal.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, boxer Aidan Walsh and former world champion Carl Frampton were also spotted in the crowd.
It’s three Challenge Cup group wins to start the new season and scoring goals doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Giants - keeping them out is something they will need to work on.
“Offensively, I thought we were great,” said their coach Adam Keefe.
Olympic pommel horse champion Rhys McClenaghan dropped the ceremonial puck
The hosts found themselves 3-1 down early on and 4-2 adrift in the second period before fighting back.
"I liked the composure when we got down to come back into that game, and we have that type of offense that we can do that," added Keefe.
"So it's good that the guys have seen that they can do that but we don't want to be put in that position too often. Certainly there's work to do defensively, that's for sure.
“It's not sustainable. It's not how champions play. But, you know, it's still very early here. We're trying to get that under control. Hopefully we can do that sooner than later.”
Scott Conway, a Grand Slam winner from two seasons ago, was back for the Giants after he missed last week's start to the season.
Naturally he scored, as did new signings Bobo Carpenter, Joe Cassetti and Kawaguchi who grabbed a pair including the game-winner.
"There's a lot of firepower there, and we're really excited with that, and we have a lot of firepower out of the line-up," Keefe concluded.
“So, it’s defensively. That's it. We need to find ourselves there but when we do that, we look like a real good team."