Throughout this season the Belfast Giants have done an excellent job at preventing losses turning into slumps, and head coach Adam Keefe hailed his players for once again avoiding that happening this weekend.
After suffering a shock reverse at the Dundee Stars a week ago, their first loss in nine games, the Giants roared back to winning ways on home ice by coming from behind on Saturday for a shoot-out win over the Guildford Flames and then backed it up with a more comfortable victory over the Manchester Storm on Sunday.
The net result is that the League leaders, after the second-placed Sheffield Steelers fell in overtime at the Coventry Blaze, extend their lead at the top of the Elite League standings to eight points with 17 games remaining — although the Steelers have a game in hand — having continued their run of never losing more than two in a row.
And Keefe was delighted to see them continue that streak as goals from Jordan Kawaguchi, Bo Hanson and Scott Conway led them to the win over the Storm that takes their record this season to 27-7-3 and puts them firmly in the driving seat for the title.
“It’s how you win this League, you can’t get on too many slides,” explained the head coach, who got a 30-save display from netminder Jackson Whistle.
“We learned that last season in a difficult way. We had a rough November and December and it cost us the League title and the Challenge Cup. Guys stuck together in January, February and March and finished as the top team in the League in those last three months, 25 games, and ultimately it led to a Play-Off Final that we lost by a goal. There’s lessons there.
“You can’t get too high and you can’t get too down. We lose that one in Dundee, we had a rough one in Fife, you have to let that go. We’re still in a good position, you have to get back to winning ways and our guys did that.
“It wasn’t pretty at times (on Saturday) but I liked our fightback in the third period and good teams find a way to do that. (Against Manchester) I thought that we were pretty solid and showed our class, particularly in the first, definitely in the last few minutes of the third. It wasn’t a complete 60 but it’s good all things considered.”
Against the Storm the Giants were two to the good after a dominant first period where they monopolised the shot count 21-4, Kawaguchi ending a five-game scoreless streak when he flicked in the puck after good work behind the net by Ben Lake at 6:41 and then Hanson notching only his third goal of the year for what proved to be the game-winner at just 13:06, his long shot from distance surprisingly beating the otherwise excellent David Tendeck — who ended with 33 saves — in the Storm net.
Conway added to the scoreline 3:18 into the second period as he took his season tally to 20 in the League with his fifth goal in seven games and, although the Storm pushed back in the third through Gianluca Esteves and they did have a goal correctly chalked off for Loren Ulett throwing the puck into the net, Whistle shut the door in the closing stages to secure the win for a four-point weekend.
Now all attentions turn back to the Challenge Cup. The Nottingham Panthers are in town on Wednesday for the first leg of what should be a thrilling Semi-Final and Keefe wants his side to quickly get into a Play-Off mindset.
“At the end of the day, we get out of it with four points, turn the page and forget about the League for a few days,” he added.
“It’s our first chance to focus on a trophy and one that’s not 17 games away and a couple months, it’s three games away. That’s our first taste of a trophy and it’s different when it’s a 54-game schedule over eight months and we’re in the middle of the grind right now, but when you’re this close to a home Final and a chance at a one-off trophy, you want to give yourself a chance of a trophy.
“It’s not going to be easy, we’re up against Nottingham who’s one of the top in-form teams in the League right now. We’re .500 against them and it’s going to be a challenge, but it should be tough to win a trophy and we have to be ready for it.”