Belfast Giants Crowned Elite League Champions

First Period

The first chance of the game fell the way of the visitors when Jake Kupsky had to be alert to smother an effort from Ross Armour before Ryan Smith and Ben Lake were denied by deflections in front of the net. The Giants continued their positive start as Kevin Carr pulled off saves from J.J. Piccinich, Carsen Twarynski, and David Goodwin.

Nottingham then killed a penalty served by Jarod Hilderman for hooking with minimal fuss before embarking on an attacking spell of their own with efforts from Brendan Harris and Chase Pearson. Josh Tetlow then tested Kupsky as the clock ticked down before the home crowd erupted thanks to a goal from captain Goodwin. He was set up with a sumptuous, disguised pass from Piccinich before rifling home from a narrow angle to give the hosts the lead after 20 minutes. (1-0)

Second Period

The second period opened up with a bang as Scott Conway slid wide on the breakaway before Nicolas Guay had a close-range effort scrambled off the line after a net-front battle. Soon after, two d-men exchanged chances as David Noel and Bo Hanson were denied at either end.

Mitchell Fossier snapped off a shot from the draw that whistled just wide before the hosts doubled their lead thanks to Goodwin again. He squeezed home the rebound after Conway’s shot came back off the post. (2-0)

Despite opening up a bit of daylight between the sides, it wouldn’t last long as, just eleven seconds after Hanson was sent to the penalty box for slashing, Armour poked home from close range to halve the deficit again. (2-1)

The visitors had their tails up, and they had to wait less than two minutes to equalise when Cooper Zech put the finishing touches on a slick breakaway. (2-2)

Despite this newly acquired parity, the Panthers struggled to kick on and, after Ciaran Long almost tipped home a Karl Boudrias shot, the hosts went into the second intermission ahead on another rebound. This time, it was Mike Lee who pounced from close range after good work around the net from Jake Gaudet and Jordan Kawaguchi. (3-2)

Third Period

At the beginning of the third period, Long bore down on goal but was sent sprawling by Mitchell Fossier, who was binned for slashing. With the man advantage, Conway tested Carr, who saved well, but there was nothing he could do to deny Twarynski, who kept digging after his initial effort was blocked and was rewarded as he squeezed the puck over the line to re-establish the two-goal lead. (4-2)

This buoyed the hosts and their fans, which meant that close calls from Harris and Jakob Stridsberg couldn’t dampen the mood. Carr was pulled late on as the Panthers pushed for a way back into the game, but it never came, and the Belfast Giants were spraying champagne on the ice at The SSE Arena, Belfast at the final buzzer.

Up Next

The Giants and Panthers go head-to-head in the second game of their double-header weekend in front of a sold-out crowd at The SSE Arena, Belfast on Saturday 28 March.