Despite an overtime 4-3 loss to the Fife Flyers on Saturday night, the Belfast Giants will be relieved to have secured the top seed in the Challenge Cup.
The Belfast side bounced back the following evening to secure a convincing 5-1 win against Glasgow Clan on home ice.
The single point they gained against Fife for the regulation time draw is enough for Adam Keefe’s men, who will now get to choose who they face in the final four and, should they reach the final, they will also get to host it.
Despite the visitors having nothing to play for on Saturday evening they proved to be up for a battle with the Giants, coming from behind on three occasions and eventually securing the win with a goal in overtime.
Indeed, Giant’s assistant coach Jeff Mason told the Irish News on Friday that his side should be wary of Fife who were likely to be dangerous due to having nothing to lose on Saturday evening.
And so it came to pass.
Despite dominating in terms of possession and opportunities, the Giants failed to fully capitalise on their 45 shots in the game.
Mark Cooper’s double and Zak Galambos’ strike was not enough, with Fife coming back each time.
Despite a strong start for the men in teal - with captain Mark Cooper scoring with a skilful backhand finish after less than a minute - the Flyers hit back with a goal on the powerplay.
Another Mark Cooper goal on the powerplay gave the Giants back the lead, but the back-and-forth continued, with Ryan Foss taking advantage of their man advantage to strike for the visitors, levelling the scores.
Scott Conway’s incisive pass to Zak Galambos - who finished at the back post - seemed to swing momentum in the host’s favour.
However, Fife showed incredible character to once again bounce back and took the game to the Giants, with Tyler Heidt slicing his way through the Giant’s defence before firing past goalie Jackson Whistle.
With regulation time unable to separate the sides, the game went into overtime and, with the momentum now firmly in their direction, the visitors sealed the winner with a strike from Lucas Childs.
Speaking after the game, Giants head coach Adam Keefe was clear that improvements were needed despite his side earning the one point required to secure first seed in the competition.
“I thought we did enough to win the game.
“Their goalie was great and he made enough big saves to keep them in it,” Keefe explained.
“I thought during periods of the game we didn’t make the right choice at the right times to stay in control of the game and we kept letting them back into it by giving away penalties and other opportunities and they found the back of the net.
“Credit to Fife. They came here short-benched, nothing to play for and we knew it was going to be a tough task because they played free.
“We should have put the game away in the first period.
“It’s important we got the one point but I would have liked to see more effort in overtime to make sure we got the second point to prove a point to ourselves that we can turn up and try and find a way to win a hockey game. To find a way to lose that game is not a good sign.
“The reality is we have a lot of guys not producing right now in key moments and that has got to change.”
The following evening the Giants turned their attention to face Glasgow in what was a far more convincing performance from Keefe’s men.
The hosts took an early lead from a bizarre goal which appeared to come off the head of Karl Boudrais from a rebound, bouncing past Glasgow goalie Landon Bow.
Scott Conway doubled the Giant’s lead in the first period and it wasn’t until deep into the second period that the hosts found their third goal, which came from Grant Mismash who poked home the puck from a goalmouth scramble.
Glasgow got their consolation goal in the third period from a Michael Pelech strike, but Bobo Carpenter put the game beyond doubt with the Giant’s fourth before JJ Piccinich added the cherry on top of an impressive performance, slotting the Giants' fifth to secure the two league points.
The Giants will now turn their attention towards more league matches against Guildford Flames next Friday on home ice before facing Nottingham Panthers on the road the following evening.
