Giants 4, Vipers 1

Scoring has been a problem for the Giants over the last couple of months after scoring for fun early in the season.  It seems at last the scoring touch has returned but it took until late in the game against Newcastle before the goals started to come.  They started from a suprising source as well, forward Shawn Skiehar scored the game winner for the Giants to make it 2-1 before Curtis Huppe and Jeff Hutchins added goals to seal the deal.  Todd Kelman had given the Giants the lead early in the game with is 200th point as a Giants player before Andre Payette tied things up mid-way through the third for the Vipers.  OT was avoided by three goals in two and a half minutes by the Giants as they finally solved goaltender Mark Lee, a British kid who was in goal in place of the injured Aubery for the match.

The win keeps the Giants within touching distance of the Coventry Blaze.  Both teams go head to head on Sunday night and a win for the Giants would put the Giants two points ahead of the Blaze in the Elite League standings but with two more games played.

Jason Ruff picked up the man-of-the-match award for the Giants with his three assists performance, while Todd Kelman (1+1) and Jeff Hutchins (1+1) also had multi-point nights.  Mike Minard had an exellent game in goal and was unfortunate not to take home the shutout after turning aside 19 of the 20 Viper shots and at times keeping his side in the game when Newcastle created pressure.

The game started slow, picked up more in the second with both teams playing better and then had a real edge to it in the third when Andre Payette took a few shots at Giants players and then tied up the game.  Shawn Skiehar who never made Payette accountable for any of his actions all night answered back on the score sheet by scoring the game winner.

Giants-History.com 3 Stars:
1st Star: Jason Ruff - Three assists to seal the win.
2nd Star: Shawn Skiehar - Scored the game winner
3rd Star: Todd Kelman - Got things going with an early goal and his 200th point.

Giants line-up:
Jason Ruff - Mark Dutiaume - Shawn Skiehar
Curtis Huppe - Jeff Hutchins - George Awada
Leigh Jamieson - Marc Levers - Mark Morrison
Gareth Martin

J.P. Morin - Roman Gavalier
Todd Kelman - Graeme Walton

Mike Minard

Category: Game Recaps (06-07) » |

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