Every day is a learning day, or so they say, and Belfast Giants head coach Adam Keefe admits he is hoping his roster have learned some lessons after almost blowing a two-goal lead against the Glasgow Clan at the SSE Arena.
Technically, his team did, the Giants carrying a 3-1 lead into the final minute of the game and up a man after Clan forward Mitchell Heard was ejected for a furious tirade directed at referee David Good but contriving to concede two shorthanded goals in the final 43 seconds to not just hand Deven Sideroff a hat-trick but the Clan a point and a shot at making it two in overtime.
But ultimately, the Giants would prevail through a flawless shoot-out, Grant Mismash, Pierre-Olivier Morin and Ben Lake all beating Landon Bow and Jackson Whistle – 17 saves – denying all three of Joseph Hazeldine, Tyson McLellan and Keaton Jameson for good measure.
Technically, that gave Mismash a hat-trick of his own, his shoot-out goal the game-winner to go with the third-period double that looked to have set the Giants on their way to victory in what had been up to that point a pleasing performance on home ice, particularly after Keefe’s men were visibly off-colour in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the same opposition in Scotland.
That was a sentiment shared by the head coach, whose side are now 6-1-0 in the Challenge Cup and lead Group B by three points over the Clan with five games remaining, but he hopes they will not be that profligate with late leads from now on.
“Much better effort. I thought we controlled the majority of those 60 minutes. That was much more like we want to play,” praised Keefe.
“Our penalty kill (which ran 4-for-4) was great tonight. It did kill a lot of our momentum, though a lot of guys didn’t play as much as we would have liked.
“The spectacle at the end with Mitchell Heard and us getting that powerplay at the end, I think guys were more focused on getting Mismash the hat-trick than seeing out the game. That’s a lesson for us that you can’t switch off and you have to compete for the right reasons in the last few minutes to get it done in regulation.
The Belfast Giants’ Grant Mismash celebrates scoring his second goal against the Glasgow Clan
“We didn’t do that, but the composure to get the job done in the shoot-out, I thought our guys were pretty dialled there. All three shooters that shot looked great, and Jackson was a wall there.
“To get the two points, all things considered, we’re pretty happy. I wasn’t happy with (Saturday), but you can’t take anything away from Glasgow, that’s a real defensive style of hockey that’s going to make things difficult and it’s our first time playing them.
“We’re going to see a lot of different types of opponent throughout the season, and we’re going to learn what it takes to beat them and we’ve learned a few lessons this weekend.”
Sideroff had put the Clan ahead 3:54 in before Mike Lee’s third goal of the 2024/25 season on the powerplay tied it at 7:33, with the Giants unlucky not to lead at the first intermission when Gabe Bast had a goal washed off for questionable goaltender interference from JJ Piccinich.
Mismash put the Giants into a two-goal lead with strikes at 43 seconds and 3:51 into the third period, but the final-minute drama saw Heard head for an early shower before Sideroff struck twice to force the extra period, with the Giants claiming the extra point in a superb shoot-out.