A Giants goal in the opening frame and another in the 3rd, sent Flames away with a 2-0 defeat on the road at Belfast.
Just over halfway through the 1st, Bobo Carpenter opened the scoring for the hosts and they held their advantage through the end of the set.
Late in the 2nd, Flames saw back to back powerplays as a chance to level, but they were unable to convert and closed out 40 minutes still a goal off the pace.
7 minutes into the 3rd a Major penalty and game misconduct to Daniel Catenacci put Flames a man short for 5 minutes and they disposed of 4+ of it but 48 seconds away from a full kill Giants doubled their lead with the final goal of the evening off the stick of Scott Conway.
Eamon McAdam made the Flames start and turned away 37 of 39 shots whole Tom McCollum for Belfast recorded the shutout after being perfect on 32 shots.
“It’s not a good result score wise obviously, but it was also very costly in manpower with Charlie Dodero and Sean Norris both leaving the game early and not returning,” said Paul Dixon.
“That 2nd period back to back powerplay stretch tonight was an opportunity to get on the board and possibly give ourselves a better chances at points, but we couldn’t find the handle on one and all we can do is look ahead.”
“We are going to have to play a bit short staffed and will need to find a way to re-set ourselves for getting back home tomorrow night against Glasgow.”
