Belfast Giants 3, Basingstoke Bison 0

THE Bison produced their best performance of the season so far against Elite League leaders Belfast, but still came away from the Odyssey on Thursday night with nothing to show for their efforts.

As in previous games, it was the Irish side's netminder, Mike Minard, who stood between the Herd and victory, as he turned away all 27 shots he faced.

The home side took the lead at 11:05, when their leading goalscorer Jason Ruff found the back of the net via a deflection off Bison Kevin Bergin.

The visitors then ran into penalty trouble as Greg Chambers and the impressive Duncan Dalmao both went to the sin-bin inside 30 seconds.

The Giants made the most of the two-man advantage as Todd Kelman fired home to make it 2-0. This time, the puck took a deflection off Ryan O'Keefe.

The second session saw the visitors have the better of the action as Doug Sheppard, Bergin, Greg Owen and Brad Cruikshank all had chances, but Minard stood firm.

In the final period, the Giants added a third goal through local player Mark Morrison and, again, it was a deflected effort which went in off Scott Spearing to complete an unlucky night for Bison goalie Curtis Cruickshank.

Canadian defenceman Mark DeSantis was the Herd's man-of-the-match on the night.

Bison player-coach Sheppard said: "I was pleased once again with the performance and it was against the top side in the league.

"All three of their goals came off our players, which was unfortunate, and I think, on the night, there was not a lot between the sides. We are certainly moving in the right direction with the way we are playing on the road and are now due a victory, I feel."

Scoring, Giants: Kelman 1+1, Ruff, Morrison 1+0, Huppe, Walton, Jamieson, Gavalier 0+1. Shots on goal: Minard 27, Cruickshank 29. Penalties: Giants 10min, Bison 10.