Giants Defeated by Devils in Playoff Semi-Final

First Period

Although the Giants started the brighter, it was Cardiff that opened the scoring after just 68 seconds when Joey Martin broke in one-on-one and beat Jackson Whistle low (0-1), and the Welsh side continued to put the pressure on as they piled pucks on net looking for the redirect but couldn’t find one.

Scott Conway had a good sight at net, hitting the outside of the goal from the edge of the right circle, with Whistle making an impressive stop to deny Josh MacDonald on the backhand as he drove in from the right circle as the two sides continued to largely cancel each other out.

The Giants did have a chance to tie it up before the end of the first period as Cole Sanford was called for tripping, but Ben Bowns made two fantastic stops on a pair of one-timers from Mark Cooper to maintain their one-goal advantage.

Second Period

Cardiff began the second period by killing off the remainder of Sanford’s penalty, and the Devils man had a chance straight out of the box that Whistle padded to safety, and then the goaltender made an outstanding save to deny MacDonald what looked like a back door tap-in on the rush with Ben Davies.

But eventually the dam burst and when the rebound from a slapshot was left sitting in the crease, MacDonald was on hand to sweep it in at 24:33 (0-2), and the Giants couldn’t capitalise on a high sticking penalty on Riley Brandt shortly after.

Sanford then took the game away from the Giants as he struck 19 seconds apart, firing on the powerplay as J.J. Piccinich sat for tripping at 32:28 (0-3) and then, after head coach Adam Keefe called a timeout, the winger’s pass hit off the skate of Josh Roach and went in past the unfortunate Whistle at 32:47 (0-4).

Zach O’Brien then added a fifth right at the end of the period, the Devils man driving in from the right and wrapping the puck around Whistle at 39:27 (0-5).

Third Period

The Giants dominated the final period as the Devils sat back to defend their lead, but Keefe’s side couldn’t convert their possession into a goal even when Andrew MacWilliam sat for delay of game and then Brandt was boxed for tripping.

Whistle came up big with one final save as Brad Schoonbaert broke away shorthanded but the netminder blanked him on the one-on-one, but it was not to be the Giants’ day.

Next Up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants finish their season in the third-place play-off on Sunday afternoon at 1pm against either the Sheffield Steelers or Nottingham Panthers.