Giants come back from two down to defeat Panthers and make Cup Semis

Photo: William Cherry

Over 5,000 fans were inside the SSE Arena on Wednesday night to see Belfast Giants come back from two goals down on the night, and three on aggregate, and advance to the Semi-Finals of the Viaplay Challenge Cup against Nottingham Panthers. 

The Panthers, who led 3-2 on aggregate from the first leg, couldn't have asked for a better start. Tanner Sorenson fired them into the lead from close range expired at 10:35 just as a penalty on Lewis Hook. , while Adam Brady then added a powerplay goal at 11:57 to put them two up on the night and three ahead overall. 

Belfast gradually fought their way back into the game but were given help when Craig Puffer's poorely timed hit saw him ejected for Checking to the Head. While the visitors survived the 5-on-3 with Brady already in the box, they couldn't hold out until the end of the period as Scott Conway got the Giants on the board at 18:12.

Jackson Whistle made an excellent 1-on-0 save to keep the scores as they were early in period two, and that set up what went in to be a 20 minutes that belonged to the hosts. Ciaran Long draw them level on the night at 30:34, before David Goodwin tipped a shot past Alex Dubeau 4:10 later to level the overall tie. Lewis Hook converted his own rebound to turn the series around at 36:25, putting the Giants 6-5 ahead overall, while Dubeau made a last-second breakaway save to keep the Panthers only one behind as the period ended.

Nottingham pushed for an equaliser in period three and has the lion's share of the puck possession in the opening 15 minutes but rarely troubled Whistle. At 55:08 the Giants broke 2-on-1 where an excellent Will Cullen pass allowed David Gilbert to tap home at the back post and all but settle the tie. With three minutes left to play, Dubeau was pulled for the extra attacker but it didn't yield a goal, and the Giants held on for the 7-5 aggregate win.